THE Great Britain men's coxless four traded their souls for gold after ending an "epic" journey with a thrilling Olympic triumph.
The flagship men's crew produced a storming finish over the last 250 metres to haul in Australia from a length down and secure Great Britain a hat-trick of Olympic titles in the event.
For the first time on that golden run back to Sydney 2000, the
crew contained neither Sir Matthew Pinsent nor Sir Steve Redgrave. British rowing has four new heroes.
Steve Williams, now a double Olympic champion, linked arms on the victory pontoon with stroke man Andy Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed and the crew's relative newcomer Tom James.
Together they had battled through a season of injuries and self-doubt, poor form and poor fortune to win Olympic gold in only their fifth major race together.
"We really paid for that victory with our souls," Williams said.
"It has been really tough. Athens was an epic journey but I think we possibly topped that this year.
"We have all spent time out of the boat with back injuries in the last 12 months. Even in the last month we have been having injuries and our training wasn't all that we wanted.
"We had low moments but we always knew that physically it would come back, it was just how we carried it emotionally and mentally.
"That brought the four of us together. We had a short time together but in moments like that, when you don't even know if you will make the start line, they carry you through."
The project for Beijing gold began four years ago, when Pinsent, James Cracknell and Tim Foster all retired and head coach Jurgen Grobler had to build a new men's four.
For two years the crew went unbeaten, winning 27 consecutive races to be crowned world champions in 2005 and 2006.
But after Britain finished fourth at the world championships last year, Grobler instigated immediate changes and James replaced Alex Partridge in the boat.
Then struck the bad luck. The new quartet had very few opportunities to bed down as a crew as the season was fractured horribly by injuries.
During those dark times, when Williams admitted the prospect of having to row for another hour was too tough to contemplate, it was Grobler who pulled them through.
Grobler extended his own remarkable Olympic record today, having coached a gold-medal winning boat at every Games since 1976.
Reed explained: "There were times through the season when it wasn't going so smoothly and we were on the ropes – but the consistent thing over the last few years has been Jurgen Grobler.
"He knows his athletes, he knows how to peak us at the right time, he knows what to say at the right times. He is the reason this boat keeps winning."
Britain today bore all the hallmarks of a crew honed by Grobler, who has spent the last month drumming into the crew: "You cannot be beaten."
That manifested itself in a deep-seated confidence, forged by the crew's relationship with each other and their shared desires, rather than in the boat.
"There was a point in the last 500m when I remember really vividly thinking 'Jesus, we might not get this'," recalled Hodge, the man responsible for setting the stroke pace and rhythm.
"It sounds really cheesy and I don't know if it made a difference or not but I thought 'I want this medal and I have nothing to hold me back, no extra race'.
"So much has gone into the last four years, what we have made ourselves do together.
"You often say to yourself 'if I don't win, it's not worth it. I will have thrown away the last four years'.
"Today, in six minutes, we decided that it was worth it. That was a big moment. It has all been worthwhile."
Great Britain were nearly four seconds faster than the Australians over the final 500m. They literally saved their best for last.
With Pinsent and Redgrave now on the media circuit, James said in midweek that someone had to start a new era for British rowing.
"Hopefully it will be us," he said. It was.
Earlier in the day, Britain won two bronze medals in the men's and women's double sculls.
Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington were first on the board for Britain when they claimed third place in a thrilling final, which saw New Zealand beat Germany by just one one hundredth of a second.
The British duo, who also had a very difficult winter with illness and injury disrupting their preparations, were only 0.22seconds further back.
Bebington, at her first Olympics said: "I am over the moon, it's amazing."
Laverick, also a bronze medallist in Athens, added: "If you had told us at any point during the winter that we would have come away with an Olympic medal I would have been stoked."
Matt Wells and Stephen Rowbotham were next up and, in another nail-biting finish, they were just pipped into third place by Estonia, who claimed silver by five one hundredths of a second.
Having come so close, both Wells and Rowbotham had to convince themselves to be elated and not disappointed.
"We said before the race we would never pass up an Olympic medal," said Rowbotham.
"Sometimes in sport someone produces something better than you and you have to hold your hands up and say 'well done'.
"We are disappointed we let the Estonians come through on the line but we have got to enjoy the moment because this only happens to a very, very few people in the whole world."
Single-sculler Alan Campbell finished fifth in his final and the women's pair of Olivia Whitlam and Louisa Reeve came in sixth.
The full article contains 978 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
