Britain’s Helen Glover and Heather Stanning stormed to victory in the women’s Olympic rowing pair on Wednesday to give the host nation their first gold medal of the London Olympics in front of 25,000 screaming fans.
Roared on by Princes William and Harry, the British duo – who only came together in 2010 after missing out on other boats – took a commanding lead early in the race and held off a late challenge from Australia to claim the first Olympic gold won by a British women’s crew.
“Ecstatic,” Glover told reporters on the bank of the lake. “It’s so surreal, it will take forever to sink in. We’re just really relieved, thank you so much everyone.”
The British duo had started as strong favorites for the title after dominating the international season and following their heat, in which they set an Olympic best time. They punched the air as they went over the line, waved to the crowd and covered their faces.
Minutes later they stood on the podium, arms aloft to receive the adulation from the crowd and struggling to hold back the tears.
“I was so shattered,” Stanning told the BBC. “I’m just so overjoyed – I’m talking rubbish now as well.”
Glover and Stanning had mostly rowed under the radar in the build up to the Games, with all the focus on Katherine Grainger who is hunting for her first Olympic gold in the double scull after winning three silvers at consecutive Games.
STUNNING PERFORMANCE
The performance followed a stunning few years for the pair and reflected the strength of the British system, with Glover only starting to row four years ago after being picked out as someone with potential for her 178 cm height.
Stanning, at 181 cm, started two years before that. She has been given time out of her job in the army to compete at the Games but she is expected to return later this year and could deploy to Afghanistan from next year.
The British pair had jumped out to a length lead in the first 500 meters of the 2,000 meter course and controlled the race to win from Australia in silver and New Zealand in bronze amid deafening roars from the grandstands on the lake to the west of London.
British women rowers have won a string of silver and bronze medals in the last three Olympics and numerous world titles, but have had to wait until their home Games for their first gold since women’s rowing was introduced at the Olympics in 1976.
The 26-year-old Glover and Stanning, 27, were both products of a British recruitment programme to find tall athletes with little prior experience of rowing.
The victory in the first final of the Olympic regatta could also be the first of many for the British squad as several other crews including the women’s double and the men’s lightweight four all start as favorites.
