by Sportswriter He Leijing
PARIS, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Some rowers from Ireland and Britain now face a bittersweet reality: they can forever call themselves Olympic champions in the lightweight double sculls, yet must also navigate the uncharted waters of what comes next.
When the men's and women's lightweight double sculls events concluded at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Friday, it marked the end of an era. The curtain fell on these events as weight classes are set to be eliminated from the Olympic rowing program after the Paris Olympics.
Since their introduction in 1996, lightweight rowing has long been under threat as the International Olympic Committee aims to confine weight divisions to sports like weightlifting and combat sports.
The removal of lightweight rowing is surely a significant loss for Ireland, whose men's team narrowly missed a medal in 1996, clinched silver in Rio in 2016, and triumphed with gold at Tokyo 2020 - one of only 11 Olympic titles in the nation's history prior to Paris Games.
The Irish team's stellar performance in Paris added a touch of poignancy to the event's farewell. Despite a challenging season with few races together, Tokyo 2020 gold medalists Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan delivered a flawless final in front of a passionate Irish crowd, to win the men's lightweight double sculls. Italy secured silver, while Greece celebrated with bronze.
In a regatta of nail-biting finishes for the British crews, Imogen Grant and Emily Craig broke the trend with a commanding victory in the women's lightweight double sculls.
Three years after missing out on a medal by a mere 0.01 second at the Tokyo Olympics, the British women now stand tall as Olympic champions.
Craig had kept a poster on her bedroom wall depicting the heart-wrenching moment they finished fourth in Tokyo. Now, as back-to-back world and European champions, they have laid those ghosts to rest. Silver went to Romania, and Greece took home bronze.
"If you told me after we crossed that line that the next three years were going to be what they were, then I would have laughed in your face. I am just overwhelmed that we are standing here, and we did it," reflected Craig on their loss in Tokyo.
Their timely honor, achieved before the event's discontinuation, spares them a lifetime of what-ifs.
The lightweight classes are set to be replaced by coastal rowing at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, featuring boats with wider hulls and leveled-off sterns to allow water to flow out.
"I'm not going to be sad about being able to say that we are Olympic champions forever, from a selfish point of view," Craig stated.
"Do I think it's a real shame that lightweight rowing is being cut from the Olympics? Yes I do. Do I understand the decision? Yes again, I do, but it is what it is," the 31-year-old added.
