International Olympic Committee : News

Grainger and Watkins take gold - London 2012 - Rowing

8/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Great Britain crew dominated the field at Eton Dorney to add an Olympic crown to the two world titles they have won in two unbeaten years.

Grainger and Watkins led from the start and were roared on to a commanding victory, beating Australia by a length, with Poland taking a distant bronze.

Grainger punched the air as her boat crossed the line. She fell into an embrace with Watkins and acknowledged the 30,000-strong crowd after finally tasting victory at an Olympics.

Grainger had been Britain's first female Olympic Rowing medallist, at Sydney in 2000.

Four years ago she became the first British female athlete to win medals at three successive Olympic Games.

Those medals were all silver and Grainger was distraught at missing out on gold in Beijing, even considering retirement. But the lure of winning in London drove her on.

Grainger and Watkins, a bronze medallist from Beijing 2008, stormed to victory, as they have done for most of the last two years. After coming together in 2010, Grainger and Watkins have now won 23 consecutive races.

But none of them were as emotional as this with Grainger finally receiving the gold medal she craved.

She said, after embracing Steve Redgrave: 'Worth the wait. Steve promised me they'd be tears of joy this time, which they are.

'I feel this medal of all of them is the people's medal. I feel so many people have been behind me and supported me and wanted this for me as much as I have.'

New Zealand triumph in Single Sculls - London 2012 - Rowing

8/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

Silver went to Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic, who finished the final with a time of 6:59.37.

Drysdale finished in 6:57.82 and Northern Ireland's Alan Campbell won bronze for Great Britain with 7:03.28.

Germany win men's Eight gold - London 2012 - Rowing

8/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Canada overtook the Great Britain crew in the final quarter of the race to claim silver.

That meant the Host Nation finished third and took a Rowing bronze medal to add to the gold won in the first final of today, the women's Pair.

Britain trailed by only half a canvas at the 1000m mark and gave triple world champions Germany a tough test.

But Germany began to pull clear in the final quarter of the race and eventually the British crew were pipped for silver by 2008 Olympic champions Canada.

Golden girls win for Great Britain - London 2012 - Rowing

8/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

The pair became the first British women to take an Olympic Rowing gold in front of an ecstatic crowd at Eton Dorney.

Australia pipped world champions New Zealand to win silver but neither crew was able to live with the blistering pace set by the British pair.

Ukraine's women's Quadruple Sculls team won gold in the second final of the day, they were followed across the line by Germany and the USA took silver.

The British pair made a blistering start to the Pairs final and had sprinted into a clear water lead over the Kiwis by the 500m time-check, an advantage they held through to the half-way mark.

When Glover and Stanning hit the wall of sound generated by 26,000 fans in the grandstands, they extended their lead to two lengths.

After crossing the line they hugged each other and saluted the crowd, which included the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry and the Princess Royal.

Stanning said: 'I'm absolutely shattered and absolutely ecstatic all at the same time. I want to collapse but I'm just so overjoyed, I just want to jump around at the same time. I'm probably talking rubbish now.'

In other Rowing action, Germany won men's Eight gold. Canada took silver and Great Britain were on bronze.

Netherlands make Eights final - London 2012 - Rowing

7/31/2012 12:00:00 AM

They held off a strong challenge from Romania to take the win as Australia came in third.

Great Britain finished fourth, a length behind Australia, to claim the last available place in Thursday's final.

The Great Britain men's Lightweight Four underlined their Olympic gold medal potential with a commanding semi-final victory.

They unleashed a powerful sprint for the line to surge clear of Switzerland in the final 500m.

The British crew won in 5:59.68 seconds, just quicker than the time posted by chief gold medal rivals Denmark in winning the second semi-final.

Elsewhere, the men's Double Scull of Bill Lucas and Sam Townsend finished third in their semi-final behind the Slovenian crew, who were Olympic champions 12 years ago, and Lithuania.

There was a shock in the first heat with reigning Olympic champions Australia and world silver medallists Germany failing to qualify.

Alan Campbell moved smoothly into the semi-finals of the Single Sculls with a length victory over Germany's Marcel Hacker to underline further Great Britain podium credentials.

He said: 'I feel in very good form, but I've got to keep a lid on it, I don't want to get too over excited or anything else and when it comes to the final the gloves are off and we'll go out fighting.'

New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale remains the favourite to add Olympic gold to his five world titles and he won the first heat, ahead of Belgium's Tim Maeyens.

Lassi Karonen of Sweden is hitting form at the right time and he won the third quarter-final, while Ondrej Synek won his heat with reigning Olympic champion Olaf Tufte scraping through in third place.

British rowers shatter Olympic best - London 2012 - Rowing

7/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

The double world champions destroyed the previous mark, set by Germany in Barcelona 20 years ago, by nearly five seconds as they won their heat in 6:44.33.

It was a commanding performance from Grainger and Watkins, who left world bronze medallists New Zealand trailing home in second place around two lengths behind.

The British Double Scull pair are now unbeaten in 22 consecutive races and their victory will have laid down a marker to their nearest rivals Australia, who pushed them close in the final of last month's Munich World Cup regatta.

The Great Britain men's Eight qualified for the Olympic final with a victory over Canada and Netherlands in today's repechage.

The new-look Great Britain crew made a fast start and quickly opened a three-quarter-length lead over reigning Olympic champions Canada to take control of the race.

The Canadians, Holland and Australia all put the pressure on in the final stages and succeeded in closing the gap.

But Britain remained calm, rowing within themselves at 36 strokes per minute to seal the win and a place in Wednesday's final.

The British women's Quadruple Scull squeezed into their Olympic final after battling back from the brink of elimination to finish third in this morning's repechage.

They were trailing last in the six-boat field around the half-way mark before producing a strong push in the second 1000m.

Britain moved into the qualification places after the New Zealand crew developed a crab - where a rower's oar blade sticks in the water and acts as a brake - and then overtook reigning Olympic champions China to cross the line third, behind Australia and the USA.

Australian Four set Olympic best - London 2012 - Rowing

7/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Australia broke the previous best time by 1.46 seconds as they eased to victory over Germany and Canada, who did enough to book their own passage to the next round.

Great Britain have dominated the men's Four over the last 12 years, winning gold in Sydney, Athens and Beijing.

But the Australian crew, who won last month's Munich World Cup regatta, are now a real threat.

'To lay the heat out that way gives us some confidence and sets us right up for the rest of the week,' said Australian veteran Drew Ginn, who is chasing a fourth Olympic gold medal.

'We are trying to go out as fast as possible from stroke one. We are not playing games in races.'

Britain won their heat in commanding fashion and the USA also got their campaign off to a victorious start.

The other Olympic best time to fall on Day 3 went to Great Britain's Double Scull of Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins.

The gold medal favourites stormed into Friday's final ahead of defending champions New Zealand, who also qualified.

Australia's Kim Crow and Brooke Pratley also bettered the old best, which had stood for 20 years, in winning their heat ahead of Poland.

The men's Eight final line-up was completed with Great Britain winning the repechage ahead of reigning champions Canada, who also qualified along with Netherlands and Australia.

The quartet joined favourites Germany, who are unbeaten since 2009, and the USA in the final after they qualified directly from the heats.

Reigning Olympic champions China finished fourth in the women's Quadruple Sculls repechage to squeeze into the final, along with race winners Australia, the United States and Great Britain.

New Zealand were on course to qualify until they suffered a broken oar with around 400m to go, allowing Great Britain back into the race.

Two-time Olympic champions Romania won the women's Pair repechage to reach Wednesday's final, along with second-placed Germany.

USA cruise to heat win - London 2012 - Rowing

7/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Host Nation Great Britain finished third after Australia withstood a late push. They expect to progress to the final from Tuesday's repechage.

Meanwhile, Great Britain's Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter delivered a powerful statement of intent as they roared back into form with victory over New Zealand in their Lightweight Double Sculls heat.

The reigning world and Olympic champions were at rock bottom just five weeks ago after finishing sixth for the second World Cup regatta in a row.

But Purchase and Hunter have built a reputation for peaking at the biggest events, having overcome turbulent seasons to win the World Championships in both 2010 and 2011.

And Hunter believes they are on the road to doing the same at London 2012 after beating the form pair of Storm Uru and Peter Taylor en route to the semi-finals.

'This is the Olympic Games and it was important to come here and kick off with a good start, put the doubters at rest and show that we're back,' Hunter said.

'We hate losing more than any others. We go away and work hard and come back again and that shows class in my eyes. There is a sense of pride there.

'We've had a pretty disappointing season so to go out there and execute like we did in the heat showed what we can do - and there's a lot more to come.'

The world champions led their chief rivals from the start and held off a late charge to win by half a length, in 6:36.

New Zealand also suffered defeat to Great Britain in the women's Lightweight Double Sculls heats.

Sophie Hosking and Katherine Copeland, World Championship bronze medallists last year, made a lightning start and pulled clear in the second 1000m in a supreme exhibition of sculling.

Olympic bests on opening day - London 2012 - Rowing

7/28/2012 11:20:00 AM

With a beneficial tail-wind, Bond and Murray set a new world's-best time of 6:08.50 as they qualified for Wednesday's semi-finals in commanding fashion.

Their time was almost six seconds quicker than the previous mark Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell set at the 2002 World Championships in Seville, Spain.

'You don't really have a sense of how fast you are going down the course so we had no idea about the record until we saw the time,' Bond said. 'It's awesome.'

Meanwhile, in the women's Pair, Glover and Stanning won the opening heat of the Olympic regatta in a time of 6:57.29, beating the previous best by over four seconds.

They controlled the race from the outset, leading the field by half a length at the 500m time-check before pulling smoothly clear to beat the USA crew by a length.The defending Olympic champions Romania came a surprise third and will have to negotiate the repechage to reach Wednesday's final.

New Zealand's men's Double Scull of Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan also set a new Olympic best in winning their heat after being pushed hard by Great Britain's Bill Lucas and Sam Townsend.

And Belgian Single Sculls ace Tim Maeyens did likewise, with another impressive performance.

Germany's dominant men's Eight crew beat Great Britain by half a length while USA returned to form with a heat victory, having only qualified for the Games at the last opportunity.

Belarus's 40-year-old single sculler Ekaterina Karsten proved she has overcome a rib injury by winning her heat as she targets a sixth Games medal.

Excitement builds for London 2012 as triathlon, rowing and sailing events take place

8/8/2011 12:58:00 PM

Preparations for London 2012 have stepped up another gear, with major international sporting events taking place at the triathlon, rowing and sailing venues, as excitement continues to build ahead of next year’s Olympic Games.

London’s Hyde Park played host to the world’s leading triathletes from 6-7 August as part of the ITU World Championship Series, while Eton’s Dorney Lake staged the Junior World Rowing Championships from 3-7 August. Elsewhere, the 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta has brought elite sailors from around the world together to compete in 10 Olympic classes in Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour, which will host the sailing events during the Games next year.

All three events were being used by the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) to test crucial aspects of its Games-time operations. The events are also helping to build excitement among the general public by giving them the chance to enjoy the experience of watching world-class sport in Olympic venues.

Britain’s Alistair Brownlee triumphed in the men’s triathlon in Hyde Park and was impressed by the enthusiasm of the crowd as he crossed the finish line. The 2009 world champion is already looking forward to a similar response during the Games next year.

"It was one of the best receptions I've ever had and the whole event was a great experience," said Brownlee. "The run down the last stretch was incredible. I'm sure there'll be 10 times as many people in 2012."
The 14-day Weymouth and Portland International Regatta has seen 460 sailors descend on the Olympic venue in order to gain experience of the course ahead of London 2012. Finn competitor Pieter Jan Postma, from the Netherlands, is one of those who is pleased to have the opportunity to compete in Weymouth before the Games next year.

“It is good that we have a test event here to learn the conditions,” said Postma. “It's good to get familiar and know the surroundings.”

The Junior World Rowing Championships, at Dorney Lake near Windsor, saw almost 600 young rowing stars from 48 countries compete at the Olympic venue, giving LOCOG the chance to test important aspects of its Games-time operations, such as the sporting field of play and the results, timing and scoring systems.

“It’s incredibly exciting to see our work come to fruition and to see elite athletes competing on the lake,” said LOCOG’s Director of Sport, Debbie Jevans. “We can see how it will be in 2012. There is a view of Windsor Castle in the background, so it looks fantastic. It's one of the best rowing facilities in the world.”