Hannah Scott has become the third Northern Irish athlete to win gold at the Paris Olympic Games after winning the women’s quadruple sculls for Great Britain in a dramatic photo finish.
The Coleraine woman, along with team-mates Georgina Brayshaw, Lola Anderson and Lauren Henry, pipped the Netherlands by 0.15 seconds to cross the line first and claim gold in an absolute thriller.
Great Britain had trailed the Dutch for the entirety of the race until the final stretch, with Scott and co. finally pulling in front with just 250 metres remaining and they had enough in the tank to hold on and cross in a time of 6:14.31.
Scott’s success is Northern Ireland’s third at the Games and their third in just 24 hours after Daniel Wiffen and Jack McMillan both took gold in the pool on Tuesday night.
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It is yet another accolade for Bann clubwoman Scott, who is already a world and European champion, and now she can add Olympic gold to her glittering array in just her second Games.
She told the BBC: “It’s been a long time in the making and I still can’t quite believe it. I don’t know if I’m emotional yet but that will come. I think we were so process-driven today and the immensity of what this is, it hasn’t caught up with me.
“The crew today were amazing. We kept it so cool to the end. We had the confidence, we’ve done so many hard miles in training and for anyone out there just go for it. If you think you can, you might just do it one day, and that’s the really cool thing about the Olympics.”
In front of 60 friends and family who made the trip over as a surprise, Scott became only the sixth Northern Irish athlete to ever win Olympic gold and is only the second woman to do so, following in the footsteps of the legendary Lady Mary Peters.
As well as that, the 25-year-old is the first ever athlete from Co Londonderry to win gold at the Olympics, although she could be followed by Daniel Coyle who competes in the equestrian later in the event.
The Netherlands and Ukraine had set out an early stall in the race as they pulled away from the start, with Great Britain hanging back in fourth as they looked to build their way into proceedings.
But it would quickly become a two-horse race between the Dutch and Brits as Scott and her team-mates pulled away from the chasing pack at the halfway stage.
Scenes in Hannah Scott’s home town of Coleraine as Team GB celebrate winning gold in Women’s Quadruple Sculls Final
It looked like it was going to be the Netherlands’ day but Great Britain produced a stunning finish, pulling clear in the dying stages and crossing the line first by a matter of inches, to the joy of the team.
Hannah Scott (second right) with her team-mates Lauren Henry, Lola Anderson and Georgina Brayshaw after winning gold in the Rowing Women’s Quadruple Sculls (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)