Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x) – Final

Great Britain and Poland won their respective heats two days ago and they lined up in the two middle lanes to race each other in the final. Poland had a bit of a sluggish start but it didn’t look to bother them. They have been a consistent line up since their Rio appearance and they have medalled already twice this season. Out in front was the Netherlands with France following in second. Then Great Britain One did a big push going into the middle of the race and that brought them ahead of France and also saw them close the gap on the Netherlands. Then the British crew of Beaumont, Walton, Collins and Lambert got into the lead. The Netherlands had to come to this final through yesterday’s repechage and they were putting on a gutsy performance.

Now Norway, at 44 strokes per minute came burning through at the finish. They were challenging the Netherlands for a silver medal. The Dutch got there first and a very happy Norway crew, stroked by Filippi Spirit Award winner, Nils Jakob Hoff got the bronze. Definitely a disappointing result for Poland.

Results: GBR1, NED, NOR, FRA, POL, GER

Jack Beaumont (b), Great Britain, gold
“Really, really pleased with the result. We applied everything we had done in training today. It is a massive confidence booster for the rest of the season. A big credit to the other guys in the crew who really pulled together well today.

Freek Robbers (s), Netherlands, silver
“It was a fun race. There was a lot going on. We just went for it from the beginning and it paid off. At the end we just didn’t look and went stronger and again it paid off.”

Nils Jakob Hoff (s), Norway, bronze
“I can’t believe we are on the podium. We worked so hard for that the last few months. It’s nice to be back on the podium after several years, the last time was in Korea. This weekend was just amazing and we can really feel the progress.”

B-final

China had the lead at the start but then New Zealand found their rhythm and pushed ahead of the Chinese. Nathan Flannery remains in this boat that finished tenth at the Rio Olympic Games after a last minute call-up when Russia’s crew was not allowed to compete. Once in the lead New Zealand was unstoppable and they moved out to an open water lead. Then the British charged in the final sprint with a 42 stroke rate. New Zealand got to the line first.

Results: NZL, GBR2, CHN, AUS