Paul O ‘Donovan, the Olympic silver medallist from Skibbereen has won Gold in the men’s lightweight single sculls final at the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam.
Paul took to the water at 11.40am.
O’Donvan pulled away from his rivals in the final 500m to claim victory by over four seconds.
Go forward to 19:23 for Paul’s race, 42:00 for the medal presentation.
Speaking to The Guardian, Paul said he had promised his friends in Rio he would win “by open water” and he thought he should keep his promise, the Corkman went on to say “at 200m to go, I guess I started smiling a little.”
The Cork brothers are due to arrive home to a heroes welcome in their hometown of Skibbereen on Monday.
Fellow Olympic medallist and Cork native Sonia O’Sullivan, has said she thinks the O’Donovan brothers have the drive to succeed in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo: “Well I’m sure they think so themselves, they thought they were going to get it in Rio, so I’m sure, once things settle down and they get back into training again and looking forward they will be aiming for the Gold.”
Not only did Paul O'Donovan win gold, he absolutely blitzed the field in the Worlds #beastmode
— Michael Verney (@mlverney) August 27, 2016
So what i want to know is, when's the Paul O'Donovan interview?! #PullLikeADog #gold #worldchamp
— Deirdre Smith (@DeirdreASmith) August 27, 2016
Olympic Silver & now World Championship Gold. Congratulations Paul O'Donovan #PullLikeADog #irishrowing
— Aisling (@ismiseaisling) August 27, 2016
Paul O'Donovan is a serious hero #gold
— Peadar Breathnach (@PeadarBreathnac) August 27, 2016
