Rowing heroes Heather Stanning and Helen Glover today ended Great Britain’s wait for a first gold medal of these Games, and dedicated their historic success to the nation.
Stanning and Glover were sensational at the Eton Dorney rowing basin, the women’s pair leading from start to finish to become the first British female rowers to claim an Olympic title.
The World Championship silver medallists were favourites for victory after setting a new Games record in the heats but the manner in which they powered away from their rivals was totally unexpected.
As Twitter lit up with British supporters hailing an “oarsome” triumph, Glover wiped away tears of joy and said: “This was for the whole of the team and the whole of the country.”
The British boat was so far ahead of Australia and New Zealand nearing the end that Glover was seen to flash what looked like a smile.
The 26-year-old from Cornwall insisted: “It was probably a grimace. It was only when we crossed the bubble line and went through the orange buoys after the finish that I thought ‘we’ve got this’. I kept telling Heather ‘we’ve done it, we’ve done it, we’ve done it!”
Stanning, a 27-year-old Royal Artillery officer from Yeovil, revealed: “Helen kept on going in my ear behind me, saying, ‘Come on, give us more!’. Now I’m absolutely shattered and absolutely ecstatic all at the same time. I want to collapse, but I’m just so overjoyed. It just seems surreal.”
Glover hopes her gold medal inspires others. She said: “If I can do it then just take the chance, not just in rowing but in anything. If you work hard, if you try your best, anyone can do anything.”
There was disappointment, however, for Britain’s men’s eight who headed world champions Germany at the halfway stage, only to fade over the closing metres to finish in bronze.
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Greg Searle, the 40-year-old who came out of retirement in an attempt to take a second gold 20 years after winning the coxed pairs in Barcelona, said: “I don’t think we could have given more.”
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