KIWI ROWERS HAIL THEIR MATERNAL SUPERPOWERS

Gold medallists Francis and Spoors improve on their Tokyo results after having children

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Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors are two supermums of their sport, especially when their young children are around to give them a boost as they row for gold.

On Aug 1, the New Zealand duo won the women's double sculls title at the Paris Olympics, while Romania, the Netherlands and the United States were also victorious on a thrilling morning of racing at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Kicking off a period of just over an hour in which a barrage of medals were awarded, the Kiwi crew of Francis and Spoors held their nerve in a tight finish to edge out Romania in a time of 6min 50.45sec, grabbing gold by just 0.24 seconds.

The pair have both become mothers since the last Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, and they paid tribute to their children, who were watching from the stands, following their victory.

"I like to think that they were cheering us through the last 200m, but in reality they were probably eating crackers and watching Peppa Pig if they didn't want to sit still," joked Spoors, who has a son while Francis has a daughter.