For the first time in eight years, an Olympic rowing medal is bound for the U.S.
The U.S. men's four — Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan — won gold in Thursday's final, ending the nation's frustrating rowing medal drought that dates back to the 2016 Rio Games. The American four led the race nearly wire-to-wire and edged silver medalist New Zealand by 0.85 seconds in the end. Great Britain took bronze, finishing three seconds behind the U.S. After the British won back-to-back world titles in 2022 and 2023, the American victory unseats the previously top men's four boat in the world.
"I'm just glad to be able to stand here today and show that dreams can be accomplished," Best said. "You just have to put your mind to it. You have to have that willingness to go deep, well beyond anyone's expectations of you. Crossing that finish line, I was just bawling my eyes out.
I love these guys, I love the United States of America, and I wouldn't want to do it with another group.
It's been 64 years since the U.S. won gold in the men's four, when Dan Ayrault, Ted Nash, John Sayre and Rusty Wailes prevailed at the 1960 Rome Olympics. This gold also marks the first U.S. men's rowing Olympic title of any kind since 2004, which came in the men's eight. The U.S. now has a world-leading 90 rowing medals.
On the first day of August, the waters of Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium were rife with medal events. Double sculls and fours took the spotlight, with finals running in each.
Here's what else went down on Thursday.
Women's double sculls final
The New Zealand women's double sculls duo, Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis, won gold in Thursday's final. The Kiwis crossed the line in 6:50.45, just 0.24 seconds in front of the second-place Romanian boat, defending Olympic champions Simona Radis and Ancuta Bodnar. Great Britain finished third in 6:53.22 to earn bronze.
The medal is Francis' second Olympic medal and first gold. She took silver in this event at the Tokyo Games alongside Hannah Osborne. Spoors is also now a two-time Olympic medalist. She also won silver in Tokyo for New Zealand while competing in the women's eight.
"We've said the whole way along that we're just mums, this is our job, and we've been able to have a job that allows us to work hard and chase our dreams," Spoors said. "We wouldn't be able to do it without the support network that we've had.
"We're not going to lie, it hasn't been easy, but it's absolutely been worth it."
Men's double sculls final
Trailing with 500m to go, Romania dominated the home stretch to win gold in the men's double sculls final. The Romanians edged the Netherlands by just over a second and outpaced the bronze medalists, Ireland, by three seconds.
The Romanian scullers — Marian Enache and Andrei Cornea — have each won their first Olympic title. Cornea, 24, made his Olympic debut in Paris, while Enache has improved greatly from his ninth-place finish in Tokyo.
Dutch duo Melvin Twellaar and Stef Broenink have now taken silver for two consecutive Olympics. They entered as presumptive favorites after winning two World Cups in 2024, but the Romanian finish overtook them.
"Towards the end, I just focused on rowing as fast as I could," Broenink said. "That was the only thing on my mind. I didn't know the speed, I don't know how it went, it was just rowing, rowing, rowing."
The U.S. boat of Ben Davison and Sorin Koszyk placed fourth, just under two seconds off the podium.
Women's four final
The Netherlands won women's four gold for the first time, outdueling the British boat at the final second for victory. The Dutch, with a time of 6:27.13, edged Great Britain (6:27.31) by just 0.18 seconds.
The silver for Great Britain marks the nation's first Olympic medal in the women's four. New Zealand also earned its first women's four medal at the Olympics, securing a bronze.
Thursday's Dutch triumph comes after their four finished no better than second at any of the four World Cups in 2024. Great Britain won two of those events, while New Zealand topped the most recent, on June 16. But the Netherlands entered as reigning world champions and now are Olympic champions.
Marloes Oldenburg, a key member of the gold medal-winning crew, broke her neck two years ago in a cycling accident. She has now risen from those depths to the top of the Olympic medal podium.
"For anyone who needs some inspiration, break your neck and you can win Olympic gold," she said. "I was in a lot of pain, could not move, could not walk — but that was two years ago."
Semifinals and repechages
- Tokyo gold medalist Emma Twigg of New Zealand and Tokyo silver medalist Karolien Florijn of The Netherlands led the group of women's single scullers who qualified for the A final with semifinal wins. Among those joining them in the final is American Kara Kohler, whose last Olympic medal was a bronze in 2012.
- Oliver Zeidler posted the top time (6:35.77) in the men's single sculls semifinals to qualify for the A final. Zeidler is a three-time world champion and three-time European champion. He'll race in the final along with Kiwi Tom Mackintosh, who won gold in Tokyo in the men's eight, among others.
- The U.S., Canada, Australia and Italy all qualified for the A final in the women's eight by finishing top four in this morning's repechage. The U.S. posted the fastest time at 6:03.93 with a boat including 41-year-old Meghan Musnicki, who came out of retirement to compete and is the oldest American woman ever to compete in the eight.
- The Netherlands prevailed in the men's eight repechage to advance to the A final. Germany, Romania and Australia will join them, while Italy's men's eight was eliminated. The Italians finished nearly five seconds behind fourth-place Australia (the top four in repechages move on to the final).