First bronze fails to hide Team GB rowing woe

The men’s eight salvaged some pride as Great Britain failed to win a rowing gold for the first Olympics since 1980.

The crew, which included Team GB’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremony Mohamed Sbihi, picked up bronze in the final race of the regatta, behind New Zealand and Germany.

But it could not disguise a disappointing Games for the British, who won only two medals and finished 14th in the rowing medal table, behind the likes of Croatia and Greece.

Britain had been the leading rowing nation at Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

The team had been given £27 million in funding ahead of Tokyo. Double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell said afterwards: “At a time when the national budget is under pressure from so many areas - is that a good enough investment?”

Earlier on Friday, Britain’s Vicky Thornley was edged out of a medal in the women’s single scull.

The 33-year-old Welsh rower finished 0.67 seconds behind Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig in the race for bronze.

Britain finished in fourth place in six events at the Sea Forest Waterway.

Team GB’s only other rowing medal was the silver in the men’s quadruple sculls race.