Great Britain's women's quadruple sculls charged past the Netherlands in the final few meters to win a photo finish final for the ages. The shocking come-from-behind victory earned the British nation's first gold medal in the event.
The Netherlands did earn gold, however, in the men's quad sculls. The Dutch beat out Italy and Poland for their second consecutive men's quad sculls Olympic championship.
In other events on Wednesday, a strong group of U.S. rowers earned spots in A finals. See below for recaps of the action from the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Women's quadruple sculls final
In an epic photo finish in the women's quadruple sculls final, Great Britain stormed down the home stretch to overtake the Netherlands for a gold medal.
The Dutch boat led the race until there were just a few meters remaining, holding a once-commanding lead over the British and German boats. But with 500m left, the British made their move and blazed down the final few meters to cap off an Olympic finish for the ages.
The gold medal for Great Britain's crew of Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Georgina Brayshaw is the nation's first gold in the event and fourth overall medal in women's quadruple sculls. The Olympic victory completes a sensational comeback from a disappointing seventh-place finish in Tokyo and failing to qualify in Rio. Now, the British are gold medalists — and they achieved the title in exhilarating fashion.
"I had no idea what was going on," Brayshaw said. "I didn't know whether we were winning, losing, I had no idea. It was all about belief and trust in what people behind me were saying, and they told me that we could do it, and so I just kept going."
"It was just not enough," Dutchwoman Roos de Jong said. "I felt them coming in the last 100 meters. I did not see it. I didn't know after the finish line, but I kind of felt that they were just in front of us."
Men's quadruple sculls final
The Netherlands won gold in the men's quadruple sculls for the second consecutive Olympics, powering to victory in 5:42.00. The Dutch finished over two seconds in front of Italy and Poland, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
The result continues a dominant stretch for the Netherlands that includes Tokyo Olympic gold, a 2023 world title and two World Cup wins in 2024. Now, the Dutch can add a Paris Olympic gold to that list. The crew of Koen Metsemakers, Tone Wieten, Finn Florijin and Lennart van Lierop have given their nation a third medal in the event, tying East Germany for the third-most ever.
"It's super amazing that we pulled it off," Wieten said. "Very proud of the team to keep it cool and execute the plan like we talked about. ... We knew, especially in an Olympic final, strange things can happen.
"We still had energy. We still had power. It was amazing to fight them off."
Women's pair semifinals
The U.S. women's pair of Azja Czajkowski and Jess Thoennes have booked their spot in the A final, posting a time of 7:15.59 to advance along with Australia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania and Greece.
"I didn't look once this race," Thoennes said. "Azja said 'up' and I said 'sounds good'. I trust her to be my eyes and ears. We did a really good job of staying internal and executing what we needed to."
The Dutch boat, which features 2023 world champions Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester, entered Paris as a gold medal favorite. They showcased some of their best rowing on Wednesday, logging the best time of the day at 7:10.16.
Men's pair semifinals
The first men's pair semifinal belonged to Croatian brothers Valent and Martin Sinkovic, who won gold in the event at the Tokyo Games. The Croatian pair led the race wire-to-wire, cruising well in front of Switzerland and Spain, who will join them in the A final on Friday.
In the second semifinal, Romanian pair Florin Sorin Lehaci and Florin Arteni posted the top time of the day, 6:29.86, to prevail. Great Britain and Ireland will join them in the A final. New Zealand's pair missed out on the last final spot by just 0.55 seconds.
Lightweight women's double sculls semifinals
Continuing a stellar day for the U.S., the American lightweight women's double sculls team, Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser, rowed their way into the A final. The American duo finished just over a second in front of fourth-place Poland to join Great Britain, New Zealand, Romania, Greece and Ireland in the final.
Reckford and Sechser are vying to improve on the Americans' fifth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. If they can earn a medal in Friday's final, it would be the first medal in the lightweight women's double sculls since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Paris 2024 marks the final Olympic run for lightweight rowing before coastal rowing replaces it in Los Angeles.
Lightweight men's double sculls semifinals
Ireland and Italy led the lightweight men's double sculls performers on Wednesday, qualifying for the A final. Switzerland, Czechia, Greece and Norway will join them.
The Irish duo of Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and entered Paris as the three-time reigning world champions. Now, they're just one more victory for another Olympic gold. Their time of 6:21.88 on Wednesday topped the field.