| As indicated in the pre-race prediction, good promoters save the best for last. This
was no exception. Olympic history was made with Steve Redgrave of GBR winning his 5th
consecutive gold medal in 5 consecutive Olympic Games. Not to be overlooked is that this
was the 3rd consecutive gold medal for Steve's partner, Matt Pinsent. Still, the moment
belongs to Steve. Steve's golds started in the 4+ in Los Angeles in 1984, and continued
with 3 more in the 2- in Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, and now in the
4- in Sydney. The GBR rowers who won today collectively have won 38 Olympic medals (now
42), and 27 (now 31) of them are gold. With the whole rowing world watching and hoping for
this victory, it definitely was not a sure thing. Hopefully, overcoming the degree of
difficulty made doing it even sweeter. GBR took the early lead. In the 2nd 500, ITA, one
of the favorites, made a move. GBR stopped it in the next 500. In the 3rd 500, SLO made a
move and GBR stopped that move also. With 500 meters to go, GBR led a second over ITA, and
2 to 3 seconds over AUS and CRO. ITA, AUS and CRO then all made big moves on GBR, and GBR
"bent, but did not break", winning by just under 0.4 seconds over ITA. Look
at the JAMCO Replay to see these moves on GBR and how GBR
stopped them. Also click on the country abbreviations for these crews in the race bulletin
that follows to review the incredible Olympic and World Championship histories of these
rowers.
LANE CREW RELATIVE POSITIONS ELAPSED SPLIT
1500* CREW TIME TIME
---+---+---+---+---+---+
6 NZL <NZL GBR 1:27.51 1:27.51
5 ITA <ITA AUS 1:28.38 1:28.38
4 AUS <AUS USA 1:28.87 1:28.87
3 GBR <GBR ITA 1:29.18 1:29.18
2 SLO <SLO SLO 1:30.69 1:30.69
1 USA <USA NZL 1:30.87 1:30.87
---+---+---+---+---+---+
1000*
---+---+---+---+---+---+
6 NZL <NZL GBR 2:58.66 1:31.15
5 ITA <ITA ITA 2:59.13 1:29.95
4 AUS <AUS AUS 3:00.25 1:31.86
3 GBR <GBR USA 3:01.52 1:32.65
2 SLO <SLO SLO 3:04.72 1:34.03
1 USA <USA NZL 3:04.77 1:33.89
---+---+---+---+---+---+
500 *
---+---+---+---+---+---+
6 NZL <NZL GBR 4:28.88 1:30.21
5 ITA <ITA ITA 4:29.86 1:30.73
4 AUS <AUS AUS 4:30.72 1:30.46
3 GBR <GBR SLO 4:31.88 1:27.15
2 SLO <SLO USA 4:33.29 1:31.77
1 USA <USA NZL 4:37.66 1:32.88
---+---+---+---+---+---+
FINISH*
---+---+---+---+---+---+
6 NZL < GBR 5:56.23 1:27.35
5 ITA <ITA ITA 5:56.61 1:26.75
4 AUS <AUS AUS 5:57.60 1:26.88
3 GBR <GBR SLO 5:58.33 1:26.45
2 SLO <SLO USA 6:02.33 1:29.04
1 USA <USA NZL 6:09.13 1:31.47
---+---+---+---+---+---+
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