The 42 Editor’s note: This article by Gavin Cooney forms part of The 42′s subscriber-only coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics, with unique insights and fresh perspectives on the biggest stories every single day. If you’d enjoy more great sportswriting like this, you can sign up here for a free one-month trial to The 42.
WHAT A CURIOUS contrast it is, that Ireland’s greatest Olympian is allergic to grandeur. Or praise. Or even a mild fuss.
Because on the day of his crowning glory, Paul O’Donovan described it all as a “fluke”.
“Ah, you know, a few moments of magic, a few good rowing partners, a bit of Dominic Casey’s magic and until you can repeat that, I think it’s a fluke, until proven otherwise,” he said.
He has of course repeated and proven it otherwise. McCarthy gives the impression of being altogether more exuberant about it all, but tries his best to temper it around his partner, coming across sometimes like a kid doing his best to stifle sniggers at mass.
Nobody else should play down what they have just done.
O’Donovan today became the first Irish athlete to win medals at three separate editions of the Olympic Games, while he and McCarthy are the first Irish Olympians to successfully defend their title since Pat O’Callaghan did so in 1932.
That title is the men’s lightweight double sculls, secured today with another flex of comic-book dominance. They were beaten by Italy and Switzerland at a regatta in Lucerne before the Games – which led to the third-placed seeding which so affronted and motivated O’Donovan – but today they eased to gold in a time of 6:10.99, more than two seconds ahead of the Italians. Greece took bronze, with the Swiss fourth.
“There were strong performances from all the crews really, so we were just trying to stay in the pack and then inch away like we usually do,” said Fintan. “We trusted our last few weeks, and it paid off.”
The race can hardly be said to have been a race. It was instead an exercise in trying to resist gravity, like watching five pairs of rowers trying to run up a giant halfpipe. Greece and Italy made it furthest up the slope, but neither came close to reaching the top.
Rowing is a three-act play. O’Donovan and McCarthy’s genius has been to do it what the modernists did to art and literature, and to tear up the form.
Rowers generally want to go out fast. Not necessarily for podium prospects, but for mental survival. The laws of racing are mirrored on the water: it’s only when you’re behind that you can’t see anyone else. So how on earth do you survive 2km of torture without even feeling you’re in a race?
Hence why most teams aim to start strong and finish strong. The middle kilometre is a stretch of surviving while recovering.
O’Donovan and McCarthy are different. They don’t blast from the starting blocks, but nor do they relent in the second act. Instead they hit their pace and keep it remorselessly until the finish line. Where their opponent’s stroke rates eddy from the thirtysomethings up to the mid-forties, O’Donovan and McCarthy’s rarely drop below 40.
All of the greats are endowed with this relentlessness.
Djokovic will always push you right to the corner of the baseline; Scottie Scheffler will keep hitting it close to the pin; O’Donovan and McCarthy will not drop their stroke rate.
And so the Greeks went out fast and the Italians were first in their wake, until the Irish duo began their suffocation act. They trailed both at the 500m mark, were between them at the halfway mark, and led entering the final quarter. From there they eased to one of the greatest achievements in Irish sporting history. They even found the time to enjoy it.
“When you are a bit more conservative off the start like we are and then you’re not too far off the pace at 500m and at the halfway and you feel you’ve a bit more to give. then you know for sure that you can enjoy it for a little moment as you starting to wind it up then,” said Paul.
“When it gets to the last 300m or 200m, I just like to let Paul know I’m feeling good so he can go if he wants and I’ll be able to back him up,” said Fintan. “So I tried to get that across but it’s very hard to hear with the crowd so we were both going ourselves and then thankfully we got across the line first.”
This achievement is eternal. O’Donovan and McCarthy are the final Olympic men’s medalists in the lightweight category, which is being dropped from the Games from Los Angeles ’28.
“We had our last ever weigh-in this morning,” said Fintan. “I’d say this is the skinniest I’ll ever be.”
McCarthy was coy on his plans but for once O’Donovan was straight-talking: he is targeting a place in Los Angeles at heavyweight. That would be an audacious attempt, but O’Donovan has already pointed to a couple of precedents to show it can be done. But the potential medal would be beside the point. The point is that Paul O’Donovan would still be rowing.
“I don’t think we had a whole load of pressure on us [today] to be honest,” said Paul.
“I don’t think we felt it either in Tokyo or other years. We’re just kind of happy here doing our job training away. We like training, day to day. The two of us like to get into some of the physiology and science behind it, and discuss with Dominic different bits about the training programme and trying to change little bits day to day, looking for improvements every couple of weeks, testing, monitoring and stuff.
“We’d take a real interest in that kind of stuff as well ourselves. So it’s not like we’re going out there mindlessly getting through training with the goal of hopefully it will pay off at the end of the year.
“We just really enjoy those day-to-day bits and then you don’t have to worry about motivating ourself in a year’s time or two year’s time.”
Rowing is just a good way for Paul O’Donovan to live his life. He’s happy to allow others enjoy his success.
Written by Gavin Cooney and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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