'Bittersweet' bronze for Aussie coxless pair after silver snatched away in thrilling finish
Updated . First published at
Australia's Annabelle McIntyre has declared her bronze medal with Jess Morrison, in the women's coxless pair final, was "bittersweet".
The reaction came after the Australian pair had the silver medal snatched from them in the final 10 metres of the race, after an insane comeback from Romania set up a thrilling finish.
With the Netherlands out in front by over two boat lengths for almost the entire race, the other five boats fought it out for the minor medals.
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It was Australia who claimed an early stake, sitting pretty in second almost from start to finish, holding a handy two-second lead over Lithuania, who faded in the back half.
While the silver medal looked all but locked in, another nation, who had sat comfortably behind Australia and Lithuania, came chasing with the final quarter of the race looming.
Enter, Romania.
Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre were beaten for silver in the very last moments of rowing women's pairs final, taking home the bronze. Nine
Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre receive their bronze medals. AP
With just 250 metres to go in the 2000 metre race, Romania upped their stroke rate, as Morrison and McIntyre hit a wall.
Romania then stormed home, snatching second place from the Australian pair and holding on to finish a quarter of a boat length ahead of their opponents.
It was a heartbreaking end for the Australian crew, which was unable to lift when challenged, and that pain showed post race.
"It's a bit bittersweet. We were obviously going for gold and got ... through to the end for silver and ended up getting bronze," McIntyre said on Nine.
"A medal is a medal. We did it for ourselves, we did it for each other, we did it for our team. We've done it for our country."
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Out the front, the hot favourites won a comfortable gold, with the Netherlands cruising to victory.
As for the Australian pair, they were evidently disappointed at being unable to repeat their gold medal efforts.
Back at Tokyo 2020, McIntyre and Morrison were part of the fours gold medal victory, keen to recreate that winning feeling at Paris 2024.
Nonetheless, McIntyre declared the bronze medal has still left them satisfied.
"It's a very good way to end what has been six years of rowing together," she said.
"We just wanted to come back after Tokyo and feel like we could complete the circle a bit, with both of us giving everything to the pair," Morrison added.
