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Rusty Rigger has found the last few days exhilarating.
The rowing at the Olympics throughout was wonderful…full of drama and great stories.
The weather threatened to spoil the party, but relented and there were exceptional performances across almost all boat classes.
But as for highlights, well….you mean other than GB Rowing coming top of the world rowing medal table? Other than the 3 Golds and2 silvers?
Yes, if you will indulge your author for a minute there was a moment that transcended the others for its simple, sublime recognition of the strength and depth of the British Rowing programme.
It was somewhere around the 750 meter mark in the final of the Men’s 8. It was the moment that the bows of the GB boat seemed to effortlessly slip forward and one realised that here we were witnessing something grand. Something epic. Something important.
For in a few minutes time the result would confirm that 26 GB Rowing squad members would be coming home with medal.
26 athletes (possibly) showing up for training in a few weeks who are Olympic Medal winners. This is a legacy. This is the measure of a mighty programme.
I am not sure how that translates into continued success, but it surely seems that continued success is ours to mess up.
That is not to diminish amazing work carried out daily by the coaches, admin, support staff etc. Only that if we believe that success does indeed breed success, then we are surely in some kind of cosmic ‘sweet spot’ and must maximise this joyful Olympic effect to the max.
The last few days have been a wonderful advert for rowing, and although the Olympic athletes aren’t giving up their time to improve the profile of the sport, their commitment to excellence and performance is an inspiration to those of us at the more ‘grass rootsy ‘ end of the spectrum and we can and will continue to use these gladiators as our role models.