London Rowing Club’s Mark Aldred ended his debut Olympic performance on a high by finishing first in the B final and seventh overall this afternoon.
After a disappointing semi-final performance barred the British four from the final, they led convincingly for the majority of their final race in Rio.
Proving their pedigree after a silver medal in the European Championships earlier this year, the GB boat finished a canvas ahead of the Chinese boat with Germany coming in third.
The US team, which took an early lead after the first 500m, faded in the latter half of the race allowing Britain to take the lead.
A strong finish by the Chinese was not enough to steal the victory and GB’s lightweight boat held strong in the final sprint.
The British team, which came seventh in the World Championship last year, finished an underwhelming Olympic campaign with a positive trajectory for future competitions.
European Champions Switzerland won the overall final ahead of four other European boats and New Zealand earlier today.
