Paul O’Donovan sticks by his word to win gold at world rowing championships

Paul O'Donovan won the A Final of the lightweight single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam on Saturday morning. The UCD clubman had over four seconds to spare at the end.

He trailed in the early stages, but then surged to the front, taking on and beating Rajko Hrvat of Slovenia in difficult, windy, conditions.

“On the first stroke I had a bit of a wobble but it was fine after that. I didn’t lose too much ground, O’Donovan said.

“I thought someone would take it on much earlier than they did, but no one seemed to be able to handle the conditions that well.

“Coming through the 500 metres I found myself near the front of the pack. Rajko Hrvat of Slovenia took up the challenge then and I followed with him because I knew (that) during the semi-final he took a big on me in the middle and I had a job then to close him down at the end.

“About 900 metres in I was feeling good and comfortable, so I took it on and opened up a bit of a lead. Coming to the line I was kind of sprinting away. I was getting a bit excited, looking around and taking in the crowd and I took a bit of a look to make sure I wasn’t missing anyone either, and I ended up taking a bit of a wobble. But I had enough of an advantage to hold it to the finish line.”

O’Donovan said it was worth all the effort of flying back from the Olympic Games, where he won a silver medal in combination with his brother, Gary, in the lightweight double. He said he had been seeking to win at this level since he first competed in the junior World Championships in 2011. He took bronze at the Under-23 Worlds in 2013.

The Corkman said he had been pushed on to win well by the jocular taunts of a friend.

“Down in Rio I was in a pub with one of my mates, Diarmuid [O’Driscoll], who I used to row with when I was younger. He was quizzing me up about how I would do (in Rotterdam) and I told him I would win by open water.

“After the semi-finals, when I only won by half a second in the closing stages, he got on to the coach and said ‘what’s going on here?’.

“He was all talk last week, so I said I’d better prove to him as well I could do it.”

Ireland’s two junior doubles will compete in B Finals on Sunday. Daire Lynch and Ronan Byrne finished fifth in their semi-final and Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty sixth.

WORLD ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Rotterdam – Irish interest; selected results

Men

Lightweight Pair – A Final: 1 France 7:14.18, 2 Denmark 7:15.30, 3 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 7:16.49; 4 Ireland (M O'Donovan, S O'Driscoll) 7:24.6, 5 China 7:32.48, 6 United States 7:36.91.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Ireland (P O'Donovan) 7:32.84, 2 Hungary (P Galambos) 7:36.95, 3 Slovakia (L Babac) 7:38.89; 4 Slovenia (R Hrvat) 7:41.07, 5 Germany (K Steinhuebel) 7:48.66, 6 Serbia (M Stanojevic) 7:49.03.

Junior Double Sculls – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Germany 7:17.47, 2 Italy 7:18.14, 3 Hungary 7:29.93; 5 Ireland (R Byrne, D Lynch) 7:36.48.

Women

Four – A Final: 1 Britain (3 H Nixon) 7:16.28.

Junior Double Sculls – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Greece 7:57.20, 2 Germany 7:58.97, 3 Australia 7:59.61; 6 Ireland (A Casey, E Hegarty) 8:12.31.