OAR-SOME FOURSOME

Britain pip Dutch to gold on the finish line after barely believable comeback

- Andy Dunn

FOR a couple of minutes, two of the Netherlands' crew could not get out of the boat.

It was not only physical exhaustion keeping them in their seats, it was the anguish inflicted on them by Team GB's barely believable surge to a gold medal that will go down as remarkable even by British rowing's gilded standards.

In the 2,000m race, the team of quadruple sculls Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Georgie Brayshaw were ahead of the Dutch at only one point...the finish line.

Just 250m from that finish line, British hopes of a gold looked done and dusted.

Scott, as if nailing the Dutch team with the very last stroke of battle had always been the plan, said: "We kept it so cool to the end we had the confidence."

It was so close the result needed a photo finish for it to be ratified.

In horse racing parlance, Team GB had won by a nose, the official winning margin after six-plus minutes of racing -recorded as 0.15secs.