PARIS, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Dutch rowing team must have felt a pang of regret, as their near-triumph in securing both the men's and women's quadruple sculls Olympic golds in Paris was snatched away by the British at the very last stroke.
In the gripping final of the women's quadruple sculls at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Wednesday, the Dutch quartet, who had maintained their lead almost throughout the race, was edged out by a mere 0.15 seconds, succumbing to the late surging British squad.
Britain claimed the gold with a time of six minutes 16.31 seconds, leaving the Netherlands with the silver and Germany taking home the bronze.
"We got to 250 meters to go, and I could sense we were coming back, so I was like, 'Guys, now, we're going now.' And then I called it again about 150 meters to go, 'We can do this,'" said Lauren Henry of Britain after the race.
"I kind of knew we'd crossed the line first but we had to wait to see, and when I saw 'GBR, 1' come up it was amazing," the 22-year-old added.
For the men's part, the Dutch team successfully defended their title in the quadruple sculls, powering home to Olympic gold with a time of 5:42.00, almost three seconds ahead of their nearest rivals of Italy, who took home the silver in a time of 5:44.40. Poland clinched the bronze in 5:44.59.
The Chinese team of Cui Xiaotong, Lyu Yang, Zhang Ling, and Chen Yunxia, entered the final through the repechage and were unable to replicate their stellar performance from the Tokyo Olympics, where they not only secured China's second Olympic rowing gold since 2008 but set a world-best time of 6:05.13, a record that still stands unbroken. They finished in sixth. ■
