Gold for Grainger and Watkins and two GB Bronzes
3rd August 2012It was Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins' day after all. Three previous silvers for Grainger and a bronze for Watkins were turned into gold on Eton-Dorney lake in the space of six and a half epic minutes.
The GB women's double scull led from the outset and the script went to plan. Australia tried coming back on them at 1300m but could not derail what became an emotional ride down the course for them and for the nation.
"We knew we were capable of this in our heads and in our hearts but we still had to deliver it", said Watkins.
Asked what it was like to finally be an Olympic Champion Grainger said: "It's very hard to put into words but it's every bit as wonderful as you might think".
Before their final the young GB men's pair of Will Satch and George Nash had wowed the crowd with a bronze on their Olympic debut in the men's pair.
"It shows if you do the training and you stick to the programme you can do it", said Satch.
Whilst Grainger and Watkins were still letting it sink in, Alan Campbell won bronze in the men's single scull - a medal at his third Games of trying in a race won by his friend Mahe Drysdale from New Zealand.
Much earlier the GB men's quadruple scull of four-times Olympian Matt Wells, Stephen Rowbotham, Charles Cousins and Tom Solesbury produced a strong performance to hold onto fifth place in their final.