Tears & redemption for Scottish rowers in Paris

At the Vaires-sur-Marne rowing regatta in the east of Paris you did not have to look hard to see the visceral meaning of an Olympic medal to Scottish pair Sholto Carnegie and Rowan McKellar.

Carnegie was in the British boat which held off the Dutch challenge to win gold in the men’s eight, shortly after McKellar took bronze in the women’s event.

For both it was a form of redemption, having finished in agonising fourth place in Tokyo in the men’s and women’s four.

Tears, relief, and joy swiftly followed for both after their Paris turnaround.

“You spend the last three years, pretty much every day thinking about it,” an emotional Carnegie told BBC Scotland.

“It’s not for me, it is for my teammates, my family, everyone who is coming to watch, everyone who has sacrificed so much for me, I can’t put it in to words.”

Born in London, Carnegie’s grandfather, from Edinburgh, got him started on his rowing journey, and the thought of making him “proud” only added to the emotion.

The long, hard miles on the bike around Islay while up with his family celebrating Christmas stick out as part of Carnegie’s journey to gold.

It’s all part of the “proud Scottish element” he describes, and his message to others is simple.

“Work hard, keep going and don’t let anyone say you can’t because I am not the biggest, not the tallest, not the strongest but with enough belief and enough positivity good things happen,” the 29-year-old says.

McKellar, the 30-year-old from Glasgow, was in bits as soon as the boat broke through the finish line, less than a second ahead of the Australian eight.

Memories of heartbreak in Tokyo have never been far from her mind during this cycle. Now, they are banished.

“I am so relieved, it was just amazing crossing that finish line and knowing we had done enough,” McKellar told BBC Scotland.

“As soon as we crossed the line I had to cry, I just didn’t know if this was going to happen. I have just been a bundle of nerves for days, it is just complete relief.

“When the Americans [who finished fifth] were coming up I was just like: ‘I cannot let this happen again’.

“That just spurred me over the line. It has been a really hard three years and I am so pleased to come away with a medal.”