Defending Olympic champions Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy win gold in the men's lightweight double sculls final

Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy have successfully defended their olympic title in the men's lightweight double sculls final, winning a gold medal.

O’Donovan makes history by becoming the first Irish Olympian to medal at three Games - an outstanding performance by him.

The Skibbereen man said of today's win: “No one believed we could do it coming in to the competition. Against all the odds we stuck with it, trained hard. Italy were number one seeds, underdogs like ourselves put in a big dig. We’re very happy to have proved the doubters wrong. It’s a good day for the Irish.”

The official time for O'Donovan and McCarthy was 6:10.99, just under three seconds clear of the Italians in second place.

☘️ GOLD ☘️

Paul and Fintan are OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS!! pic.twitter.com/hR8EHjJPdO

— Rowing Ireland (@RowingIreland) August 2, 2024