The British four get their golden reward.
PINSENT GRABS FOURTH GOLD
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Matthew Pinsent joined the Olympic immortals on Saturday morning when he led the
coxless four to gold for Britain after the tightest of photo finishes on an
unforgettable morning at the Schinias rowing centre.
The man from Eton, who had garnered three Olympic golds while racing in the
shadow of Sir Steven Redgrave, made it four in a row to go within one of the
record of his big pal and Britain's greatest Olympian.
But the margin over Canada was the blink of an eye - just eight hundreths of a
second.
For James Cracknell it was his second gold to go with the one he won in
Sydney, while for Ed Coode and Steve Williams it was their first taste of
Olympic triumph.
What a fantastic ending to a story which had been bedevilled by disruption,
injury and political in-fighting for the best part of 18 months.
And what an endorsement of the talents of German coach Jurgen Grobler who
ruthlessly axed Tony Garbett and Rick Dunn from the boat to incorporate Pinsent
and Cracknell from their ill-fated initial challenge in the pairs.
In the end it was a crew which had been together just six weeks and had rowed
just one regatta before coming to Athens.
But with Pinsent's inspiration and good old-fashioned British grit and
determination the four saw off the challenge of the technically superior
Canadians in a race rippling with tension.
Fans, nervous with anticipation but buoyed by the earlier silver won by Kath
Grainger and Cath Bishop in the women's pairs and the bronze gathered by Sarah
Winckless and Elise Laverick in the women's double sculls, had pitched their
Union Jacks in front of the stands which formed a colourful backdrop in front of
the Schinias mountains.
They were swiftly roaring their support as Britain took an early lead at
500metres, however, the margin was just 0.41 seconds with the Canadian danger
boat holding its form and Australia third.
At the halfway mark the margin was still just 0.44 seconds with virtually
nothing between Britain and Canada and a nervous ripple went around the stands.
And then came the most important phase of the race. This past week Pinsent had
admitted that they had lost concentration during the second-half, failed to
increase their effort when it was vital.
There is no place for such complacency in Olympic finals. This time the
experience, desire and sheer grit of the British crew was clear to see in the
grimace of Cracknell and the jutting determination of Pinsent.
At 1500m the Canadians had clawed their way into the lead by half a second and
we feared the worst.
But then came that grit and all those painful hours though as they raced to
the line it was impossible to tell which boat held the advantage.
In the end it needed that photo-finish and there was an anxious wait before
the scoreboard flashed up the result which all Britain wanted to see - gold
medallists by the slenderest of margins.
Britain's time was 6:06.98 with the Canadians eight hundreths of a second back
and Italy third. But it was medals, not times, which mattered.
And Pinsent had joined a hall of fame of gold medal winners at four successive
Games such as the great Carl Lewis, Danish sailor Paul Elvstrom and American
discus thrower Al Oerter.
Pinsent was almost speechless and close to tears after winning his fourth
successive gold medal.
"I can't really get any perspective on it. I thought we rowed a really good
race. I thought we controlled it really nicely in the middle," he said.
"We knew if we were with them (the Canadians) they were going to be in more
trouble than us."
Cracknell tried to sum up the feelings in the boat when he said: "When you
put four years of emotion into six minutes you end up in a scrambled heap.
"After such a terrible season and a tough year mentally is is gratifying to
produce it at an Olympics final and to win by eight hundredths of second - that
is what it is all about. We had a lot of energy and emotion."
Ed Coode, who replaced Alex Partridge late on in the team's preparations after
he suffered a collapsed lung, revealed their absent colleague had helped them
focus on the task in hand.
"We were thinking of Alex every stroke. He has been the fifth man in this
boat," he said.
"He has encouraged us all the way and he is the strongest guy of all of
us."
Williams said he was pleased with the way the race had gone from a tactical
point of view.
"I had the best view, I was calling the shots. I think we were pretty pleased
with how we left the Canadians. We got a good start and we made it count," he
said.
"Matthew led us in really well, kept our length. Matthew stroked a phenomenal
race right from the word go.
"We never lost any confidence. Jurgen gave us a talking to after the
semi-final and I think we put it right."
Describing the feeling in boat immediately after crossing the finish line he
added: "It was a bit of numbness. It was long race with the headwind but in
another way it was over very, very quickly.
"In one way it is just another race but by looking at that (the difference
between them and the Canadians) it was by no means just another race."
Redgrave, who was Pinsent's long-time partner in the boat before his retirement
after winning gold at the last Games in Sydney, paid tribute to the four-time
gold medallist.
"The emotions are flowing through me. I am really, really pleased for
Matthew. We talked about destiny but that man deserves it," said Redgrave.
"Four times an Olympic gold medallist - what can you say about the guy, he is
absolutely unbelievable and head and shoulders above anyone else in the world.
"And it's just hit me, I'm no longer reigning Olympic champion!"
Redgrave said he felt Pinsent could go on to be a greater Olympian than even
himself with five gold medals by competing all the way through to 2012.
"I've been pretty convinced he would carry on after this one and go to
another Olympic Games," he said.
"He has got the capability to win not only the next Olympics but the Olympics
after that.
"He won't make any decision, he will keep it very much to himself and think
about it.
"There are other things he wants to do and it depends what offers are about.
I think he'll take a year off because there is time for him to come back and win
at the Olympics again."
Grobler, who had been criticised for switching tactics during preparations,
revealed this gold medal was probably his personal highlight.
"This is the most emotional situation I have ever had," he said.
"This was maybe the toughest season we had so far. We had problems throughout
the season and it is a big relief for me and British rowing.
"I am very, very pleased we did it. It was very difficult because we did not
race as a crew in a hard race because of the changes, so we had to rely on
preparation and we made really good progress and the crew was really
together."
The German revealed he had laid it on the line for the crew at the team
meeting last night.
"I told them it was not the time to be emotional, it was time to do the
business," he said.
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