As a farewell to international rowing, as a retirement speech elocuted with actions not words, this was the goodbye of dreams for Angus Groom. Not a gold, but that apex was not what anyone had anticipated. An Olympic silver though, from the men’s quad sculls in Tokyo, was a much sweeter gift picked up on his last day at the office than any watch or bottle of bubbly could ever be.
He and Harry Leask jointly became the second Scottish medallists of these Games, their quartet lifting the gloom on a Wednesday of woe for the British team on the Sea Forest Waterway.
From the outside lane as well, with a line-up which also included Jack Beaumont and Tom Barras unleashing a pulverising stroke rate that earned a surprise lead at 1000m. Once the Netherlands, the world champions, swept by en route to their expected victory, the scrap for silver and bronze became a fight against fatigue with three boats in the mix.
The Brits prevailed, just, with Australia just 0.22 seconds behind in third and Poland cut free. "It was just head down, belief, belief,” Groom revealed. “But there's been so many races for all of us where we've just been nipped through in that last bit. Just really believing in each other that we're going to get across the line, and that's what we did really."
The Glaswegian hung the medal around the neck of Leask who found the pursuit extraordinary and exhilarating. "I could see that we were ahead,” the 25-year-old from Edinburgh affirmed. “It was unbelievable, and the rush to just get that home ... I couldn't believe we were sat where we were for so long.”
Getting a British quad sculls crew onto an Olympic podium has been a project in the making for over a decade. Predecessors have come and gone empty-handed. High stakes, huge pressure. Groom confessed that his deflation morphed into a brief depression in the wake of coming fifth in Rio in 2016.
Only euphoria now, as the 29-year-old prepares to enter a different kind of lab to undertake a doctorate in medical science at Oxford University with a fresh career plan mapped out.
“I've had a great career rowing,” he said. “But there's also there's other things in life that I really want to do. I'm really grateful for the opportunities and the experiences and all the life skills that rowing has given me. But I'm ready to take that into science. I guess athletes talk about different identities. After the Games, I just want to shift my identity from being a rower to being a scientist. I'm looking forward to that.”
Karen Bennett’s emotions overwhelmed as the women’s four slipped out of the medals amid a frenetic chase for the line. Australia pipped the Netherlands to gold but in a brutal battle for bronze, Ireland’s magnificent surge over the last 700m squeezed the Brits off the podium by a mere 1.06 secs.
Heartbreak for Bennett, who lost her father Davie to cancer just eight weeks ago. “Their pushing was a little bit better than ours,” said the 32-year-old from Edinburgh, her face a contrast from her smiles following silver in Rio.
Minutes earlier, her partner John Collins had also come fourth in the men’s double sculls as he and Graeme Thomas as France snatched victory. Separately or together, decisions loom. Bennett has long planned to take stock after Tokyo before choosing whether to carry on.
“I know we didn’t get medals in the end and that’s really gutting,” she confirmed. “It’s nice to have something to show for everything you’ve done and been though. But we did all we could and it was definitely our best race together.”
Supposedly infallible, Britain’s Golden Boat proved mortal as strong winds rocked their chase. The men’s four had enjoyed a monopoly on golds dating back to Sydney’s Games of 2000. The streak concluded amid farce, marooned in fourth and coming within metres of crashing into Italy ahead of the finish, as their challenge veered wildly off course.
GB remained second to eventual winners Australia for much of the race but combusted over the closing 500m with Ollie Cook confessing he “forgot the steering bit” as the pressure was ramped up.
“It’s a really bitter pain,” their Scottish stroke Sholto Carnegie acknowledged. “It’s a test of our character. We just have to use it going forward and keep our heads high. It hurts but that’s the beauty of sport.”
Lucy Glover’s Games ended with a consolation victory in the B final of the women’s quad sculls while the women’s eight were fifth and last in their repechage as their medal quest was ended.
While Polly Swann and Helen Glover moved onward into Thursday’s women’s pairs final, holding onto second place in their semi to progress with a much-improved showing than their initial heat.
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