Twickenham’s John Collins secured a fifth place finish in the men’s double sculls final alongside partner Jonny Walton this afternoon.
Walton and Collins — who was making his Olympic debut — took the scenic route to even make the final, finishing fourth in their heat and having to come through the repechage.
The pair followed it up with a third place finish in the semi final behind eventual medallists Croatia and Norway — producing a phenomenal performance to progress.
The final itself was possibly a step too far for the pairing, and they were never really in medal contention, dropping to the back of the six-boat field right from the off.
Lithuania and Croatia, who’ve dominated this event for the past couple of years, were well clear of the other four crews at the halfway stage, with the Lithuanians edging ahead going into the last 500m.
However, the formidable Sinkovic brothers in the Croatian boat produced a powerful surge in the final stages to move clear of their Lithuanian rivals and take gold, with Norway coming home in third.
Great Britain put in a characteristic spirited effort to reel in the French pairing, crossing the line in fifth.
Considering Collins and Walton’s objective for the games was simply to qualify for the final — and they had to produce their best performance of the season just to make it — they can be very pleased with their efforts in Rio.
Image courtesy of the BBC, with thanks
