The Sonshine of Our Lives

The mist was beginning to lift but was still swirling round with occasional breaks. Every now and then you could just make out the dark shapes of the approaching boats. As soon as we saw them appear we all began to shout and scream, “COME ON BRITAIN”. Jackie just in front of me was really going to town. We were eighteen Brits completely surrounded by Americans but we were going to be heard. I noticed one girl in front of us was covering her ears and there were still deep groans coming from Pat Cross, the heap on the ground. Then it began to happen. Now clear of the mist, the bow of the British boat was inching forward and gaining water on the USA with every stroke. With just 200m to go we could see that our boys had raised their rate and were making their final push.

The commentator was saying that the Americans were still managing to hold the British - when the lads came though like a steam train. Nothing was going to stop them now. With 150m to go our boys had taken the lead and in what only seemed like another second they had crossed the line to take the gold. The TV cameras turned on us, our shouts and hoots must have been heard in Great Britain. It was all over and they had won their first Olympic Gold medal in 6:18.64 a whopping 1.64secs clear of USA.

Everyone was shouting congratulations and jumping up and down. I looked towards the boys to see Andy and Budget with their arms waving in the air. Martin and Steve were slumped over their oars totally exhausted. It was only then that I realised what they must have put into this race, the enormous physical effort that had gone into winning this medal. Pat Cross was up now and shouting, “Wow Wee, what a great race”, all the signs of his previous nervousness gone. The TV cameraman came over to film us all and we waved to the family back home in the UK. We weren’t sure if they would see us but we hoped that their win would make the news.

After the race the boys slowly rowed back along the side of the course so that they could wind down a little and dissipate some of the lactic acid their muscles had accumulated during the race. We knew that they would return in a while for the traditional row past followed by the medal ceremony. The following race was the Double Sculls and, with no British interest in this, we watched but our hearts and minds were elsewhere. I felt so elated and bursting with pride. My son, at just 22 years old, had achieved what he had been working towards from the tender age of thirteen. He’d said to me in a very quiet moment nine years earlier, “Mom, what I really want to do is to win an Olympic Gold medal.” I took a deep breath and thanked God that, in our small way, we had been able to help him achieve his dream. We had helped him financially of course and we had given our unwavering support but what had mattered to him most was that we had always believed in him.  His whole family had always been there for him when he needed reassuring and a little praise but we couldn’t begin to express our respect and admiration for all his personal hard work which had culminated in this colossal achievement.

The boats were lined up in their finishing order about 250m out from the rostrum. In the near lane was the boat of Great Britain, 2^nd America, 3^rd New Zealand, 4^th Italy, 5^th Canada and 6^th West Germany. The crews began their steady row towards the rostrum to the sound of a wonderfully stirring piece of music called “The March of the Athletes”. Just before the rostrum the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd crews came to the landing stage and 4^th, 5^th and 6^th rowed on past the finish line and back to the boat sheds. The athletes from the three boats disembarked and walked up to the rostrum, again in finishing order. The gold medal crew walked to the centre position, the silver to the right and the bronze to the left. While this was taking place, three young female American volunteers, each carrying a medal on a velvet cushion, stood in the wings next to the IOC officials who were there waiting for the presentation to begin. Once the athletes had taken their positions, the official party walked on to the rostrum. They first went to the gold medallists and presented, in turn, a medal and a floral bouquet to each rower. Their names were announced over the loudspeakers to a roaring cheer. The silver and the bronze