Day 6 BBC One: 13.40-18.00 Olympics

That afternoon to BBC One viewers, we are watching the events on the

lake, Britain lining up for the men's four semifinal as they attempt

to win a fifth gold medal in a row in this event. For those of you who

are watching this on BBC Two, we would now ask you to switch over for

continued coverage. COMMENTATOR: They are coming under

starter 's orders, France, Canada, Great Britain in lane three, this is

the semifinal now, the last race out from the final, Great Britain in

three, Germany, Netherlands, Belarus and Constantine Louloudis, for the

penultimate time at this Olympic Regatta, takes the British drug,

backed up by George Nash at three, and Mohamed Sbihi, one of the

strongest guys in the field across all the boats, here at this Olympic

Regatta and Alex Gregory, the sole surviving member of the Olympic

champion boat four years ago. He is in the bow seat and the British

taking the early lead. France in one, Canada in two, Great Britain

three, Germany, four, Netherlands five and Belarus in six. Great

Britain looking to push on. They were so impressive in the opening

heat. They are going to look to make a big stand. You have been coached

by Jurgen Brobbel, he's the guy driving this, and under his

stewardship, we have gone for five gold medals, and although some

coach, double, what does he say? Talk is through the first 500 metres

from his perspective. Don't make the race faster than it needs to be. It

might look like they have gone out like startled rabbits but the

reality is, the Canadians and Germans were not very quick in their

semifinals, they came through strongly in the second half of the

race, don't go out too hard, don't go faster than it needs to be, they

will hit 500 metres and hit a rhythm that is bullet-proof. What he wants

is a little drop between your speed in the first 500 and the second 500.

He wants that continuing, the rhythm of it being seamless and ultimately,

one thing in the semifinal is to win it at all costs. One word, also, 500

down, they are clear, they have gone, but they are going to move

again, start to out, transition into the second 500 metres. This is the

second semifinal of the men's heavy four. Constantine Louloudis, Mohamed

Sbihi, George Nash and Alex Gregory doing what they do best, leading

from the front. That is the history of most of the British crews but at

the finals, in the Olympic Games, it is all about big statements, big

benchmarks. Alex Gregory, coming down the boat, Mohamed Sbihi, George

Nash at number three and Constantine Louloudis, huge lungs on him, the

guy that drives them out, the bronze medallist four years ago in the

eight. You can already see who the battle will be between for the gold

medal, between Britain and Australia, actually, Great Britain

and Great Britain, whether they perform a lot, and Australia will

pick up the pieces if they don't. The Canadians are not the quickest

in the first 1000 metres but that is a horizon job that the British are

going to do and they could put some serious mileage into them if they

wanted to. Right now, they will be nailing down the rhythm to the 1500

and then they will put off the gas from there. But this is where they

will win the final, from here to 1500 metres. James, tell us what it

is like and about, going through 1000 metres, here. In the second

semifinal of the men's heavy four, Great Britain are away and clear

from the rest of the field, which is led by Canada. Look at the space

there again. They have opened up a bit more and they have not had to

push for it, they have turned the screw a bit. Canada over the

Netherlands, in the boat, and when you were in the boat looking back,

give us an insight into what it feels like looking back is to mock

you open up, you know you have qualified. In the semifinal, you

think," the next 250, raise the speed and then raise the speed from

1250, down to 1500, and then shut it down and think about the final". You

are not thinking about how much you are beating them by. You make sure

you get clear of the race because as we can see, the race is developing,

three boats going for two places. If you don't keep it strong in the

third 500, no matter how easy it looks to you at halfway, you will

find yourself in a race for the last 500 that you don't need to be in. A

strong third 500, hurting yourself, will make the last 500 really easy.

That is what you've got to think about, no matter how far Robbie

Ward, people will come back. The Italians showed it in the last race,

crews do it in a semifinal all the time, it will be close for the last

spot and if it is, it is going to push you up if you are in the front.

They will be nailing it for the next 30-40 seconds and then looking to do

a Usain Bolt, just getting off the gas. Look at the legs in unison,

bang, catch on, legs down, and they hang the body weight off the handle

and that is what makes this four... Exactly and that is why they spent

hours training because they are not all that they might, Mohamed Sbihi

is six foot eight, Constantine Louloudis is six foot three. They

are not all the same build and they have to drill how they move

together. That is what you do so you don't have to think about those

things when you are racing flat out. Great Britain convincingly, easily

through the 1500 metres mark, here, over Canada on the rest of the world

coming up behind them. They are making it look easy, but it is not

by any measure easy. The power still coming down, they are not required

to sprint. 350 from the line but they will still want to keep the

gap, still want to close it out now. This is the statement they are

making, particularly to Australia, who will watch this back and say,

"What do we have to do? What is required?" This is the strongest

British four we have ever put out. I guarantee, the Australians will not

be looking at the finish time, they will be looking at the first 500 and

halfway times, possibly 1500 metres, no one cares about the last 500, it

about winning it, what you do to get there is a relevant but you know,

people have been on it to halfway so you look at those times. -- is

irrelevant. The crowd are on their feet, enjoying every stroke. This is

the feeling coming up towards the line, 100 metres out. We have Canada

on the far side, who are being put under pressure by the Netherlands in

lane five. But today, in the second semifinal, it is all about one boat,

four men, Constantine Louloudis, George Nash, managed to league and

Alex Gregory in the bow seat, going into an Olympic final for the second

time in his career. They now just start to ease off, fighting for

second place on the far side, is Canada going to come in second? The

Netherlands make the third qualification spot in this men's

heavyweight coxless four. Gary Herbert is on top for today --

.com today and so the men's four and so were these two from the women's

pair, Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, well done today. That was

like the old EU! Yeah, it all feels quite normal. It was a case of

making sure we get through it. Every stage is really important to get

through to the next one. Obviously the final is the most important.

Doing what you need to do in the heat and the semifinal and make sure

we are getting to the final in good condition. Everyone was inevitably

pontificating of your race a couple of days ago when you narrowly won

but it looked for a while as though you might get beaten for the first

time. Wondering what had happened, was it you or the Danish pair? How

did you rationalise it? We have seen the Danes produced some quick times

over a kilometre this season and they were fourth in the world last

year so you can't disregard them. We came away thinking about what we had

done. It was all about us in our boat. It was not a disastrous race

at all but it was an exceptional race from the Danes. You still won.

Exactly, the most important thing was to do the job and win the race.

It gave us confidence we can win from wherever we are in the field.

It gave you confidence rather than sowing seeds of doubt? We always

expect the best from the opposition anyway so if the people on the bank

are surprised, you can assume we are not. We always assume the best of

the people we have racing -- we are racing. We have seen the Danes have

speed and they have improved and the same with the Americans and the

Kiwis. There are so many people in our event to differ from heats to

semifinals to finals so there's no way you can look at the two races we

have done this week and assume anything. That is the way we are

when we are racing. If they are up, we have spoken about that. It is not

like it will never happen, we know it might and we know it might

tomorrow and we know it could and we are really realistic about how good

the opposition is and how good we have to be if we want to beat them.

You were pretty good today. Congratulations. The final. From

Helen and Heather to Hazel. And the girls final is tomorrow and

so to the men's four but the first of the rowing finals is underway,

about 20 minutes time, to 10pm and we will be back to catch all of the

six finals live this afternoon. But you know, excitement levels are

rising by the week and all over the Olympic city because Great Britain's

medal count is rising as well. It was a quite wonderful Wednesday like

no other. It is bronze for Chris Froome! You

take the bronze! And Stephen Scott takes the bronze medal! Bronze medal

for Conway and she fully deserved that. And it is Joe Clarke of Great

Britain, the Olympic champion! It is gold for Jack and Chris!

Great Britain and Northern Ireland, rising up the medal table into the

top ten with 12 medals so far but you know, behind the numbers, isn't

it a privilege to share in some career defining and life changing

moments for these amazing athletes who have worked their socks off to

be here and win those medals? Katherine Grainger, you may

remember, gave us one of those moments four years ago. Yes, she was

a late addition to the games but with new partner Vicky Thornley, she

is full of renewed web about defending her double sculls title

this afternoon and trying to win a fifth Olympic medal. -- renewed

hope. Another double sculls final in the men's boat with Britain's pair

and the Croatian brothers are hoping they won't be the favourites. It

could be that Sinclair and Innis are rowing for silver with the awesome

Kiwi duo unbeaten for seven years mind you, all good things come to an

end. The first gold will be the men's quad sculls. Great Britain

came through the repechage to reach this final. That is at 2:10pm. On

the Whitewater much later today, after a brilliant surprise gold

medal, their commie yesterday, it is Hounslow and Florence, fired up in

the canoe doubles final. So there is another confirmation for you of the

timetable. So much going on today but in the immediate thoughts, the

priorities are going to the rowing at 2:10pm for the men's quad sculls,

and the men's pair thereafter at 2:40pm and Katherine Grainger in the

boat with Vicky Thornley at 3pm. Then it is the double sculls at

3:20pm and much later at 4:20pm, it is Hounslow and Florence, trying to

qualify for the double canoe final, the event in which they won silver

last time. Yesterday was a pretty wintry day. It was windy and rainy

and then at about lunchtime, it started raining medals for Great

Britain. First for Chris Froome in the men's road race time trial and

then about three hours later, well, and unheralded Britain, in his first

Olympics, Joe Clarke was third from last to paddle in the men's kayak

single. COMMENTATOR: Here is Joe Clarke. It

would be sensational if he can crack the time of 88.7. His time in the

semifinals, 90.6 seven. Under orders to hold back, we believe, the

23-year-old from Stoke on Trent, Stafford and Stone Canoe club will

be packed today. They will be watching his progress. He needs to

be calm, settle into the rhythm early. Good upstream gate three,

tight around the gate at four, wants to keep the boat tracking down

stream. A nice, open style, wants to dive in at seven, tight and out.

It's all about the mind. Quick directional strokes, keeping control

and composure, weight and then bang the stroke in. This looks sharp and

it is, sharper than sharp, 0.18 inside four Joe Clarke, a man who

has only been on the British senior team for four years. Nailed 13, got

the spin on the back of the tale. Now a roll. One selection for the

Olympics back in October. He's had for months to prepare specifically

for this one run. Breaks back into the flow, through 18, surely no

mistakes? He's clean and getting faster and faster as the run goes on

but you can throw away 0.4. Finding himself broadside on the big wave

but he gets a route across, great power to keep himself online. Slight

hold on the exit of 19 and now he's going to get the boat up and

running. Can he get a nice spin at 22? A reverse and a tight pull out

and it is looking good and fast. Two gates to go for Joe Clarke as he

drives towards the line, up on the clock going through gate 22, the

time of 88.7 could be beaten and it is! Sensational! 0.17! Joe Clarke

has secured himself a medal at the Deodoro, and it's definitely going

to be bronze unless he beats the two Mantecon. -- men to come.

Diss the Czech Republic on his way. Trying to beat the time of 88.5

three. The split has to be good all the way down. Their religion

opportunity to make up if you are half a second down on the first

aspect which will cut at just under 30 seconds. Not giving away anything

from those first form aggregates. A big turn. Quick out into the flow.

This was where Joe Clarke was good through eight, nine, ten. Watch the

clock. He's inside. Lightning quick. 0.77 through the gate that gave

David some problems. That could be so expensive. We've only got 0.49

per second between silver and bronze, to have two microseconds

added, you see how damaging that can be to your hopes and he knows it,

he's pushing extra hard at the moment. Great execution at gate 17.

In touch with a medal, but he will have two nail this bottom section.

You have to bear in mind 0.54 behind having been given the two second

penalty. He's still going great guns. I think Joe Clarke's time is

under threat. One more to go. Held just a little bit on the gate 23,

will it cost him a shot at gold? 88.5 three. He's outside. And that

little mistake between 22 and 23 costing him the gold. So, here we

go. The Slovakian went to 12th in the first run, indicating a good

performance. He's only 19 years of age. Surely, surely the pressure

could be too much. Joe Clarke sitting in gold medal position. You

have his fingers crossed that it doesn't go brilliantly well for

Grigar. Looking good at the moment. Sharp through those gates. He's

going to be very quick. What was that, seven, eight? He threw his

head inside, taking all the risks in the world to make sure... A punt on

13. Gets just a bit too far into the wave, held for a fraction of a

second. Fractions separating the top four 0.49 of a second between the

top four, can't remember a time it's been that close. It's all about the

spin he's going to do it well. 0.87 on the split. You can't give away

anything. Slow on the hold. Held on the wave, could be costly. Wide on

20. Looks like it'll be extremely tight. Watch the time on 22. He has

to be well under 77 seconds. Here it comes as he goes back through the

gate. 75, 76, it's going to be desperately close. Needs a perfect

line into the finish, held on the stopper, that would be the move that

cost... It cost Prskavec, it could cost Grigar as well. And its Joe

Clarke of Great Britain. The 23-year-old. The Olympic champion

for 2016! Helen, you were saying yesterday it would be fantastic if

the youngest paddler in the British team work to medal. You didn't

suggest the gold medal. It is so good for the future of British

paddling. Absolutely, the men's kayak discipline is such a tight

discipline. We've had some very good juniors and under 23. For him to

come out today on the biggest platform in the world and performed

that way is phenomenal. The winning time 88.5 three. 88

seconds of pure concentration. Of power, of precision, of perfection.

It was absolutely brilliant. What an achievement for Joe Clarke,

the 24-year-old from Staffordshire who first got into the sport on a

scout kayaking trip. Look at that, from those beginnings to Olympic

champion, great stuff on social media after his training partner

Fiona Pennie, who is going today in the semifinals of the K-1 in the

women's event later... We will see her, to... She said, did this just

happened to my training buddy? Phenomenal racing by Joe Clarke,

smashed it to win gold. Joe Clarke said on Twitter, thank you for the

congratulations. However, I'm ready to start my night shift in Worthing.

Hashtag mistaken identity. The real Joe Clarke sat down in his kayak and

won gold. From the Whitewater to the more disconcertingly green waters of

the diving centre. In 100 years of Olympic diving Great Britain had won

eight medals, but not a single gold. Would all of that change when these

two sprung into action? COMMENTATOR: This is the moment for Jack and

Chris. Laugher and MEars. It has to be as good as they've ever

done because the Americans put loads of pressure on. Upper 80s needed,

boys. Here they go. Yes! Come on! That is an Olympic medal for sure.

At least the silver medal. Just the Chinese to follow. They have done it

when it counts. The eyes of the world on them. They are looking at

the scoreboard. This is just as I hoped it would be. Forward four and

a half in a tuck position. Bang on Synchro. Chris Mears marginally over

rotating. Both divers on with execution. Synchronisation bang on.

This is 3.8 degrees difficulty. It'll be over 90 points. If it is,

they are going to top the US. They do. Only just. 91.2 zero. Enough is

enough, four points better than the US. They are an 454, the Chinese on

360. Remember this man is going for his third consecutive three metre

Synchro gold medal. This is the dive that stands between him doing that

or getting a silver medal or maybe even bronze. 95 is the magic mark

for China on this 4.5 somersaults. No, I don't think it's good enough!

I don't think it's good enough. The Chinese may find themselves in the

bronze medal position. Both divers short, short into the water. I don't

know what to do, stand up, sit down, watch the replay. This could be gold

for GB. Forward 4.5 from the Chinese, it needed to be over 95

points from its going to get nowhere near that. I'm pretty sure it's

gold. Gold for Team GB. Will China split them? Again, an agonising

wait. The marks haven't come... Come on, put us out of our misery. It

must be gold, surely it's gold. They are number one, looked at their

faces, that tells you. Let's get the marks on the screen. They've done

it, oh my word. It's not gold for China, not even silver for China,

its bronze for China. That means it is gold. Pure gold for Jack and

Chris. Laugher and Mears have done it. They came in with medal

expectations. We knew, we thought they could get a medal. They have

gone to the ultimate, the best ever. Jack, Chris, Britain's first-ever

Olympic diving champions. What? LAUGHTER

Pretty cool, yeah. We're confused as hell and so happy. We did a

fantastic job today, two point of our EB, not even our best, and we've

come away with a gold medal. We're so lucky. Happy. With the way it's

gone. It's ridiculous, it is absolutely ridiculous. Talk us

through the fifth dive commits one of the most difficult you can

execute and you nailed it under pressure. Yeah, obviously, any dive

under pressure is nerve wracking. That was I'd say our most

high-pressure dive. I was a little bit over the end, I thought I'd post

it forwards, managed to get a good finish on it. I got good individual

scores. Synchro was off. We've scored more on it. It was enough to

put us in a good place in the sixth round. You are housemates. I

understand, I've heard, you've got space on your wall, a couple of

blank frames, ready for some pictures. We do actually. Which

picture will it be? I'll have to think about it, I would think,

probably, one of the pictures from today. We've got a couple of frames

empty on the water filled up, this will be one for the books. Do you

feel you had a point to prove? Disappointed after the individual in

London 2012 when you went out early? Of course, that's why I was so

emotional, it's almost a reflection of how much hard work I've put in,

how far I've come from almost nothing to everything. This is the

big one. To do it today is a dream. Alongside my best friend. From

London to now in format for years with an unbelievable amount of hard

work and that backs, things I've had to give up, all that stuff, to get

this, is beyond worth it. My absolute dream. It's crazy. Talk

about tough journeys, 2009 you were on the brink of death, is it fair to

say? 5% chance of survival after contracting horrible virus. That's

right. To be honest, even after going through that horrible

experience and making the Olympics in London, that was enough for me,

it was something great. Then competed really well, came ninth

individual, fifth in synchro, I was buzzing from that. We were in a

different position coming into this game is, we knew we could get medals

but didn't know we could... We kind of debt, but to actually have them

is insane. It's incredible. Let's have a look at them. Gold medals.

Congratulations, guys, congratulations. STUDIO: Pure, pure

gold. What a story for the two of them. Would it get any better? A few

miles away, Japan's excellence was coming under scrutiny and threat

from amongst others great Britain's Max Whitlock.

That was exciting stuff. We're going to start on the floor with Nile

Wilson. Puts him in second at the moment. These gymnasts will be

nervous and excited to be here. Easier to retain this title.

Wonderfully performed. Things are looking good for Japan. Max Whitlock

with his first of six pieces of apparatus. He goes into the lead!

How impressive, you can see how much he has matured. What a fight that

was. Max Whitlock looks relaxed, to be enjoying himself. I was impressed

with that. Kohei Uchimura is ahead of Max Whitlock by a hair 's

breadth. One of the best folks I've seen him do for a while. Verniaiev,

what a fight this is proving to be. Anything you can do, Uchimura, I can

do. A vital vault for Kohei Uchimura. What a belter from

Verniaiev! Max Whitlock has an all-round Olympic medal in his

sight. Verniaiev on this fifth piece of apparatus of six. He needs every

tenth. The routine itself was flawless. If Max Whitlock can manage

to stay in the medals it'll be the first time Great Britain have had an

all-around medal for 108 years. Yes! Well done, Max, what a performance.

Uchimura on parallel bars. The former world parallel bars champion.

This is going right down to the wire, it really is. He can do it, he

can do this. All of the training coming down to this one piece of

apparatus. What a performance from Max Whitlock. This has been a battle

from the beginning. Into the big dismount. The perfect landing. He

has done all he possibly can. The pressure is on now. Can he make a

dismount, can he twist, can he land? It's not enough for gold. Kohei

Uchimura still undefeated. Max Whitlock take the first medal in the

all-round final for 108 years, what result for Great Britain. Target was

to improve myself as an all-rounder and I feel complete in that target

I'm so happy. It was tough. I made a slight error on floor, I could have

been even closer. It feels absolutely amazing. A third bronze

medal of his Olympic career and he still has the apparatus finals to

come later. Now it's time to get back to John. The moment has come

for the rowers with the first of the finals. It was uplifting seeing that

resume of the medals. You would hope by this time tomorrow, round about

this time, we might have another couple of golds to put on the tally.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning looked hugely impressive in the

women's pairs semifinal earlier today. The men's four looking for a

fifth consecutive gold medal in that discipline for Great Britain. We

absolutely outstanding in their semifinal. -- they were outstanding.

They must have put the frighteners on everyone else racing in that

final tomorrow. Over the next 40 minutes we might add to our medal

tally, what colour they will be we will find out over the next three

quarters of an hour. Four finals coming up.

Uchimura the men's squad right now and then the men's pair, and then

the women's double sculls and then the men's double sculls and the

first of those is coming up right now with James Cracknell and Gary

Herbert. COMMENTATOR: For the very last time, six boats line-up here on

the Lagoa Stadium for the Olympic final, the breeze picking up, it is

bobbly down there, the water moving as you can see, so just another

added ingredient is a cleaner start than is usual. Germany going in lane

one, the Olympic champions, three returning from that boat, we have

Poland in lane two, Australia sitting alongside, the world silver

medallists sitting in there. Estonia will be in lane four.

Bronze medallist from last year, Estonia. Kaspar Taimsoo in the

stroke, are responsible for getting away clean and strong. Ukraine in

five. Burst at the World Championships two years ago. Drawing

on all the experience of that as we look out for the first time on the

Olympics start, Great Britain, Beaumont, Townsend, Groom and

Lambert. Sitting poised and ready and what a journey it has been for

this group, for Great Britain's sculling group. Ukraine in five have

the distinguished I'd love holding the world best time. Australia hold

the Olympic best time. As of 2008. Here we go. Showtime. The Olympic

final in the men's heavyweight quadruple sculls. They are coming

under starter 's orders. We have a green light and the start

of an Olympic final, the men's quadruple sculls, Great Britain

slightly slow in the first two or three strokes out of there, jumping

out of the start, top of the picture the defending Olympic champions

Germany, Poland in two, Australia in three, Estonia in four, Ukraine in

five and Great Britain in six and I won't mention the word substitute

for the great British crew. We are looking at the Great Britain

sculling group which is a strong and tight group and out of that group,

we're looking at the quadruple sculls, Jack Beaumont, Sam Townsend,

Angus Groom and Peter Lambert, who moved into the stroke seat. Now they

need the race of their lives and if ever there was an understatement, it

applies to the British crew. They have had a rocky season, here, and

clawed their way, bought their way into this Olympic final, deservedly

so but now whatever has gone before is irrelevant, they look to the

future and every stroke they take now is a stroke that will get them,

for the first time, onto an Olympic podium for a men's quadruple sculls.

Such inspiration and motivation. You will not come across a tighter group

of scholars than those four representing Great Britain right

now. Same for the Germans, this is an absolute storming start by

Germany, Germany won the Olympics and the World Championships last

year, they had a shocking heat. They regrouped and here they are, leading

the Olympic final and that takes a huge amount of team spirit and inner

belief. The British crew are right in the mix at 500 metres and with

Peter Lambert moving back to the stroke seat, traditionally, they

have had a faster second half of the race with him on the stroke seat

than the first half, and this is a perfect position for them to find

themselves in at the moment. They have put themselves in this position

and now they have to capitalise. Australia has been the form crew of

the season, and they have come late in the race. 750 metres to go, so

1250 gone, that is when they start to show their speed. In the heat,

they were only ahead for about 30 seconds in the race and that is what

is going to be expected of the final. The longer race is going to

help them but expect them to come through the field and expect the

British to be fast as well. Ukraine commune of a quite sure what you are

going to get. Estonia have shown form although it has been up and

down in the four years. You can't really call this. 800 metres, and

absolutely sensational start for the British quadruple sculls, led by

Peter Lambert, Angus Groom in the number three seed, Sam Townsend at

two and Jack Beaumont up there in the bow and what a guy, only a

couple of weeks ago, he thought he would be watching this on the

sidelines but now he is making some calls and driving along as they

start to stretch out, and Germany in lane one, the defending Olympic

champions, three of the boat are returning from four years ago, the

stroke man, Hans Gruhne, the new guy is leading them through halfway. We

are at halfway, by one length, just shy, it is Germany on the far side

and in fourth place at the moment, they were third at the 500, but they

are forth at the halfway, and now we are going into the third 500 metres.

Look at second, the Australians have come through from their start, they

were forth at 500 and now they are in second. -- in fourth at 500. They

will pressure the Germans. I was saying how close the British crew

were but the Germans were in this position four years ago and won the

World Championships last year and they are going to be very hard to

overhaul but if one crew has shown their speed in the last half of the

race, it is going to be Australia and they are being pushed hard by

Ukraine and Poland are also challenging the British as well. The

British will find out now and they have to live up to their billing as

the best British squad we have ever had but also fast over the second

half of the race. -- British quad. All of the crews will have done

their first big, significant push so now all of the calls are to set

themselves up for the final 500 metres. If you want something you

have never had, Great Britain, you are going to have to do something

you have never done. They will have to go to a place, where they face

their Demons head on, particularly this crew, a little look right from

Jack Beaumont, poised, where are we currently? In fourth place. They

have been pushed hard by Poland in lane two. They are coming to the

last 500. We are getting to the business part of the Olympic final,

the British group just slipping back but they are holding on the fourth

place. -- British crew. Into the last 500 and it is all or nothing.

50 strokes out from a place on the Olympic podium. Britain have been

overtaken by Poland, so they came through 505th, I think the

Australians have left themselves too much to do to catch the Germans. The

Germans have taken from the start. You can see them shouting, urging

on, the last one minute and 20 seconds of their season. The

Australians I have too much to do and think Britain have no chance of

reeling in Estonia. Philipp Wende, in the bow of the quadruple sculls

for Germany, the defending champions have stepped up and raised their

game, 25 out from the line, only 25 strokes from Olympic glory, and

Poland are coming back, Australia also. Estonia in this and Ukraine,

the British crew in lane six, not a single person in the grandstand that

is sitting down! Everybody is up, here. All nations, cheering. Look at

that, Australia coming back at half a length inside there, closest to

ask Estonia in the bronze medal position. This is where the Germans,

you don't get this experience, this is not only. That is holding them

here, the guts to lead the race but the experience. They have to dig

deep when it matters and they have done it. Australia, one last time to

the line but it's not going to be enough. Germany has successfully

defended their Olympic title, four years on. It was too much for Great

Britain, coming through in fifth place at the bottom of your picture.

They were in amongst it at 500 metres but then in the 1000 metres,

it was a step too much, a step too far for them and that is what it

means to be Olympic champions and rightly so. Hans Gruhne beating his

chest because he was the new boy on this but no longer the new boy, he

is now the Olympic champion, the stroke man of the Olympic champions,

the German quadruple sculls. Despair for Australia, how they came so, so

close and that is what it is like to lose a gold medal. Estonia, there,

getting the bronze medal and James, just too much in the end for the

British quad. They put themselves in the right position at halfway. That

is all they can do. What the Germans and the Australians did was take the

race by the scruff of the neck. The Germans backed themselves right from

the start, and Australia didn't. They were faster for three quarters

of the race but they did not have the guts to really go for it from

the start and back themselves. The Germans backed themselves and won

it. The British backed themselves but did not quite have the boat

speed. All of the World Cups and World Championships lead to this

time, this moment for Philipp Wende, Lauritz Schoof, Karl Schulze and

Hans Gruhne. Great Britain to the right of the picture, a little bit

slow off the first 100 but they got into it, committed themselves in the

first 500 metres but the experience of Germany and Australia, look at

that, still three quarters of a length down, coming along into the

last 250. But it was not going to be. Today is all about Germany in

the men's quadruple sculls. Watching the crews sat behind the finish line

out, no matter how much it hurt during the race, they are all OK now

and that is why you have to have the guts to really dig deep, even though

every fibre in your body is telling you to stop, you have to keep going.

When you cross the finishing line, you have done the training and you

will recover. You have to dig that little bit deeper, not just for

yourself but for your crewmates. That is why the Germans won because

they are prepared to do that right from the start and the Australians

weren't. That left an absolutely massive impression because of the

German crowd that are here. Well supported, the German quadruple

sculls. There wasn't a single person that wasn't on their feet in the

opening final. And the other crucial thing before we do the result is the

heat does not mean anything at all. Germany are the Olympic champions,

Australia and Estonia and a huge disappointment personally for the

British quad, in fifth place. Disappointment for Great Britain but

they got to the final, talking about separations, the Germans in the

next-door pen to us was getting -- were getting very excited but not as

excited as the bow man. I suppose the alternative is to dive into the

water but that is probably not a good idea, here. Some great pictures

of Germany's first gold medal here. We have a bit of a battle going on

between ourselves and the Germans here about how many medals our

respective teams are going to get. They are obviously one up at the

moment but still three more finals to come today. Disappointment for

the Great Britain court and also for the lightweight men's double sculls

earlier, when they failed to make it through to the final, finishing

fourth in their semifinal and they have been up a few moments ago to

talk about that disappointment. Guys, hard lines. You must be

feeling devastated really that you are not in the final this year.

Yeah, we are. It is all a bit surreal. Quite hard to try to take

in and not in a good way. We had a cracking warm up, raced the race we

wanted to race, rode our way, rode our rhythm -- were rowing our way

and our rhythm but we were beaten by three faster crews on the day. We

did everything we could from Poznan until now. We were in good shape but

these guys are just quicker than us today. Using the word surreal,

there, does that mean that you had almost, and you could never assume

anything in sport, obviously, but had you got it in your mind that you

would be in the final? I mean, you can say yes we kind of thought we

would be there but obviously, we are not there. We got beaten. We have

had a very challenging season. As Richard said, we had a very good

time from Poznan to now, we have really found some speed and got some

time in the boat again and kind found ourselves a bit, after a rough

start to the season, just, as we said, beaten on the day by three

faster crews. Now we have to pull ourselves back together and race

tomorrow and do ourselves proud. Do Team GB proud, sorry. Struggling a

bit. I can imagine. One final question, if somebody rose faster

than you do, in a sense, there's nothing you can do faster, if you

feel you gave way you can give, then you can't give any more? -- rows

faster. Yes, we were raced to a standstill at the end and we could

not have given anything else. It is not like we got anything wrong. We

were just beaten by faster crews on the day and all credit to the

French, the Irish and the USA. They were just better than us today.

Thank you for joining us. Richard Chambers being very sanguine

and honest there after they failed to make it through to the a final

and just looking, talking about people who win, the German crew who

have just won behind us, I was expecting them, they are embracing

their fans, I was expecting a massive, big hug from the four and

our German colleagues on the left. Listen, that was a fantastic race

from your guys, wasn't it? It was a perfect race on them, unbelievable.

Were you expecting them to win? No, absolutely not! A medal would have

been good but gold is crazy. Is he a real character? Just a

moment, I need to do an interview, sorry. We'll let them hug and talk

about what we hope is going to be a British medal in the next half hour.

Katherine Grainger four years ago, if we're talking about great moment

of celebration, it was fantastic at all those semifinals. Here's the

hugging going on. Doesn't matter what nation you are, winning feels

the same, doesn't it? Great pictures and great camaraderie. There is a

huge amount of respect between all the various crews. You can see from

the Australians, who were favourites to win the gold. Huge disappointment

for them obviously but unbelievable amount of respect between all the

competitors as the Estonian crew go through behind them. Back to

Catherine who four years ago was one of the standard-bearers of Great

Britain's gold haul after winning silver medals at so many previous

Olympics. She finally got gold. For her the big decision was, would she

carry on or decided was enough? She eventually decided after a couple of

years working for us to get back in the boat and see if she could make

another Olympic final. Of course, she's done just that.

This is never the life I planned for myself. I didn't think I'd be a

one-time Olympian, never mind five-time Olympian. I remember a lot

about my first Olympics. The whole experience is just phenomenal, the

racing itself is the most intense, the most electric and the most

exciting racing you will ever get. At that point the women's team had

never won an Olympic medal of any colour in any event, so to win

silver was incredible. We knew we were making a little bit of history.

Best performance by a British women's boat ever, great

performance. You get something tangible for your efforts, something

to take home for the rest of your life. It changed women's rowing from

that point onwards. Athens was special. In comparison to

my first games there was more expectation from ourselves, we knew

if we got it absolutely right there was a chance. The spirited and

heartening row from Great Britain. We gave it the best race we had on

that day, I don't think it was the best we'd ever done. It wasn't as

joyful as Sydney because I'd been there and got silver already, there

was a chance it could go better stop Athens is one of my proudest medals,

but it is tinged slightly with what might have been.

Now it's cool, calm and collected from Katherine Grainger. Beijing

summed up how much in Britain, sport has moved on in eight years. In

Sydney in 2000 that silver medal was celebrated by everyone. Eight years

on, that silver represented failure. Great Britain have never won gold at

the Olympic Games, could this be the time? We lead the field for 1700

metres, then in those dying stages, to be wrote through was

heartbreaking. That's why there were four heartbroken women on the

podium. The emotions absolutely flooding out here from the British

quad. To walk away with a result you didn't go to achieve is, honestly,

it took me months to come to terms with, I struggled. It affected me

personally as much as professionally. I remember thinking,

if I'm going to go again, I didn't want to be driven by that ghost of

Beijing. Going forward to London it was never about proving something

right, for me it was a whole different experience. I did sleep

the night before. As soon as the alarm went off I knew instantly it

was the Olympic final morning. A life could be defined in the next

six and a half minutes. I knew where I wanted to be, I knew the race was

going as I wanted it to go. I didn't connect it to the fact we were in

the Olympic Games. Ladies and gentlemen what we are seeing right

now is that dreams do come true. Olympic champions Katherine Grainger

and Anna Watkins. Honestly it was a dream come true for me, pitch

perfect. All those incredible highs and lows, those tears, all the

fighting back, getting yourself up and dusting yourself down and going

back again, every single agonising second was worth it for that moment.

Most assumed that would be the end. If I was done with it, I would have

been happy to walk away, I would have been. I just thought, I'm not,

I'm not done. Katherine Grainger and Vicky

Thornley's moment of truth is that four minutes past three your time.

Let's pick up commentary of the women's quad.

Poland had an excellent start in the first 500. They consolidated that in

the second and is now lead by three quarters of a length over Germany

who have moved into second place. Taking that on from the Netherlands.

We're on board with Poland, who were first in the first World Cup

regatta. They've been the most consistent crew through this 2016

year of the Olympic Games. They are leading the Olympic final. They were

so disappointed last year to come off the medal podium forth. The

whole question in this third 500 metres is, as too much being done to

early in this high-intensity race here. Germany in amongst it in lane

four. The Germans will have to go now. The polls are matching their

every move. They will have to go to catch. Is it going to happen? The

polls inching it out, so the Germans have got to go now. More

importantly, they have to be prepared to sacrifice silver to

catch Poland, if they don't try and catch them, they could win silver,

but not gold. They are making a move. They have to go now or it

won't happy. A fight between the Netherlands on the coat-tails of the

German crew... The Germans are definitely slipping the Dutch, not

making enough ground on the polls. They have to go now, he prepared to

risk silver to win gold. If they really want gold, they have too been

prepared to chuck silver in the bin. The last 50 strokes will define

their lives. Making noise, but no impression at the moment. Out front,

coming back, the Germans, just stalking back against Poland. They

were quick out of the starting blocks, Poland in the second lane.

Germany. Thiele, Bar, Schmidla and Lier. Running out of water. In order

to win this, they are going to storm back. The Dutch are gone. I think

they are going to do it, I think the Germans are going to do it, I'm

going to back the experience... The polls are going to blow. Germany,

heads up, getting stronger. It's almost as if it is flying. They are

two feet down from the polls. 125... They are level. They are now

through. Through by one, too. The Dutch are going to get the polls as

well. We are now inside 75 metres this Olympic final for the women's

quadruple sculls and Germany now have done it, they've timed it to

perfection. They've brought with them the Dutch. And Poland on the

far side are going to hang on. That is it, sorry state of affairs for

Poland, but joy for Germany again, they make it two in a row in the

quadruple sculls. For the women and for the men. The Netherlands come

through in silver medal position. They've done what they didn't do

four years ago. They were silver medallist Ben. They are Olympic

champions now. That is all that matters here. And celebrations

around. Richly deserved from this German quadruple sculls. Thiele,

Bar, Schmidla and Lier. They were impressive, stuck to their race

plan. They started to grind it from a long way out. You've got to be

prepared to chuck away silver to win gold, I said. I don't think they

needed to, they had confidence in their plan and they knew they were

going to empty their tanks. The polls would have had to front-load

the race too much to be ahead. The polls were the quickest to 1800

metres but they hand the medals out at 2000, they went from first to

third in 200 metres. Two golds in a row from our

colleagues from Germany next, who are looking decidedly smug Scott

from TV NZ, I'm not going to mention the rugby by the way. Don't mention

the rugby, we'll get to that later, it's all about rowing today. A

massive chance for New Zealand in the next race with Hamish and Eric

Murray. Looking for the 69th consecutive victory. It's

extraordinary to win 68 races in a row, remarkable. How big are they in

New Zealand? If they walked down the street with people know them?

Absolutely, in fact, minorities but that has a profile, it's been very

successful over the past 10-12 years. Bond and Murray have been the

most dominant sportsman of the last 6-7 years at least, twice named

supreme winners of the New Zealand Halberg awards, the sportsperson of

the year in New Zealand. They came into the Olympic Games as our best

chance for a gold medal. What are they like as guys? To be that

successful for that long they must be ridiculously single-minded? Very

single-minded and different personalities. Hamish is a focused,

single man, Eric is a lot more, shall we say, out there? Those

differences work together. It's the thing that keeps them going. I

better go, I have this interview to do. All the best. I apologise, I had

you working for the opposition. He works for Sky News England. Bond and

Murray famous to win the gold medal in the men's pair, looking for 69th

consecutive victory. You kind of thing the other five are racing for

silver. Amongst them, Sinclair and Innes from Great Britain. Our aim is

really to challenge the Kiwis. It's tough to say you're going for gold

against the undefeated crew since 2009. But I think we're definitely

going to give it our best shot. If we were to go for gold and lose

silver, so be it. On the off chance we have the best race of our lives,

and we could beat them, it would be worth every second. Personally I

would love to be able to measure myself against the best in the

world. As a crew we're trying to edge beyond what we have already. In

the hope it'll get us a little bit closer where we want to achieve in

our name in the final. If that comes out with us, being closer, may be

beating them, fantastic. If it comes away with us not getting a medal but

we've done absolutely everything, having spent everything, I'll be

just as content. We'll see that race coming up at 10:44pm. 2:44pm your

time. Lets say about how these things work. The rowers come off the

water, come on the pontoon. You can see the cruise going behind us. They

come up to the podium, head to the medal podium, it is where we're

going now. We're about to hear the German national anthem. Gary and

James are watching the ceremony place.

The stroke man. They were third at the World Championships last year.

They add an Olympic bronze medal to their tally. At the end of the day

they will be pleased with that. It was an Olympic final of the very

highest order. The distance they came from the last World Cup regatta

and they were ill and had to withdraw... Here they are, in front

of the world, Olympic bronze medallists, Estonia.

Rhodes the smiles tell it all and what a time for them, being given

their medals by licking Australian rowing, Jimmy Tompkins. -- by the

King of Australian. He is the three times Olympic champion, silver

medallist and bronze medallist at the Olympic Games, a real top dive.

It just shows you how much that means not -- top dive. You have

raised against him and you know him as well. He will have been rooting

for this quadruple sculls. Absolutely, he will have respect for

them and be disappointed for them. When you raced the way Jimmy raced,

the first thing he will say to them is, "Go a bit harder", because they

had the boat speed under way there were coming back at the end,

although they ran out of Lake, you know how long the race is so you

would expect the world champions to back themselves. Some of the world

champ injuries may not have been his best performance either, but at the

Olympics, Jimmy always got the best performance out of his boat. That is

the true master because the World Championships, yes, they are

important but the Olympics is what you are judged on. But the

Australians will learn from this experience. They won't want to be

here next time, they will remember what it feels like to come second.

Germany! Just those few words in any competitor's life and sporting

career, that you want to hear said for you, Olympic champions. Philipp

Wende, Lauritz Schoof and Karl Schulze added once before and they

are getting it again, for years on, Germany successfully defend their

Olympic title. You know what will make it feel more special? It is

almost the true Olympic story because four days ago, they were put

out into the heat in the repechage, they've had an extra race to anyone

else on the podium and they've been tested mentally every step of the

way and they've come out and answered it and not only that, they

backed themselves more than any other crew of the start and through

the first thousand metres which is why they are standing there now.

They went through a dark time at the start of the week but they thought,

"Hang on, we shouldn't be in this race", but they have asked the --

answered the questions asked of themselves and the rest of the

field. It hurts to say that about Germany is Olympic champions, to be

honest but that is the way they race. They earned it, every stroke.

When I looked at them Mynott, I said three of the crew returned from 2012

and one has "New" Richard Beale -- written beside him, Hans Gruhne but

this time, they are all Olympic champions.

For Germany, Olympic champions, the shock of the tournament, the

regatta, in the shadow of Christ the Redeemer, Germany Olympic champions

in the men's quadruple sculls. You are bang on, Gary, that is the

first medal ceremony we have shown you at Lagoa Stadium and isn't that

the picture, with the four crews turning towards their flags and with

Christ the Redeemer in the background, just a stunning image

that will forever be one of the shots of the Olympics in Rio in

2016. While they celebrate obviously there are more cruise down at the

start because the finals keep on coming on this Thursday morning in

Brazil, Thursday afternoon at home and just thinking idly, having had a

chat with our colleagues from Sky New Zealand about Hamish Bond and

Eric Murray, who are the absolute near certainty to win gold medals

out in whatever discipline, and I suppose you might conceivably put

Usain Bolt in that category in the 200 metres, probably not the 100,

though, and I suppose given Novak Djokovic's departure, maybe Andy

Murray, he is a long odds-on favourite to win the men's singles

tennis and he plays Fabio Fognini later this afternoon our time,

tonight your time so it will be on the BBC. But happy Mac bond and

Murray from New Zealand have to be the hottest of hot favourites of

almost any single event at these Olympic Games, no matter what the

discipline. 68 consecutive victories and this would be their 69th if they

were two, almost inevitably, we think win the gold medal in the

men's pair. But we saw what happened with the Chinese doubles gold

earlier, when they literally just caught the minutest of crabs and

ground to a halt. There are no certainties in sport. Devon Loch and

everything! So for Sinclair and Stuart ins, this is a massive

opportunity for the British pair -- Stewart Innes. Perhaps for gold,

perhaps more realistically for silver but an intriguing race

nonetheless. What a shot and what a commentary duo.

COMMENTATOR: On that note, South Africa in lane one, Great Britain in

lane two, Italy in three, Marianne Bond in four, Australia in five and

France in six. Let's go through it. -- Murray and Bond. The Italian

combination, young, just put together, mixture of young and old,

last-minute busier. You saw Eric Murray and Hamish Bond from New

Zealand, Spencer Turrin at Alexander Lloyd looking to spoil the party,

well, to do that, you will have to go big style in the first 500, big

again in the second, even bigger in the third and hope that New Zealand

fallout in the last 500 because that is the only way. They are so

supreme, Eric Murray and Terry bond. France in lane six. -- Hamish Bond.

I said it before and I will say it again, for the very last time at

this Regatta, in this event, they sit forward in the Olympic final of

the men's coxless pair. Sit back and enjoy this because this is going to

be supreme. On the top, South Africa off nice and quick, Great Britain,

Sinclair and Innis, Stewart Innes made a breakthrough debut in the

team last year, here he is at the Olympic final. Everything to go for

common here. It is rough and they have to be clean. The water is

building up, the wind is coming cross head from the right as we look

at it so it is adding another ingredient into this. Italy in

three, Murray and Bond from New Zealand in full, Spencer Turrin and

Alexander Lloyd of Australian fries, Frances closes to us when we go

around at the right of your picture now, Germain Chardin and Dorian

Mortelette, Olympic silver medallists four years ago, such an

up-and-down four years. Let's see what they can do. In the early

stages, not to panic, James, because New Zealand take their time to get

into it, 250 metres, they will just be looking to get into the race,

clean but not worried. There are two givens in this, firstly that the

Italians will go out ridiculously hard, secondly that New Zealand will

go out steady for the first 100 metres and then their speed won't

drop. They will keep it the same while everyone else's speed drops

but the real unknown is the French. In their heat, they looked world

beaters. In the semifinal, they looked like they were struggling to

make the final. I actually had a text conversation with the New

Zealand pair this morning about the conditions that the rowers are

worried about the conditions. They said it does not really matter, it's

2000 metres. That is how confident they are, it is about 2000 metres,

not the first 500. That is as well for New Zealand to say because right

now, they are third. The race leaders, South Africa from Italy and

New Zealand. Watch the next 500 metres, as the water hopefully

flattens out of it. You can see Sinclair and Innes, Alan Sinclair

and Stewart Innes, 30 years old, Sinclair, 25, Innes, they were the

tadpoles known in the last of the World Cup regatta is so they have

formed. Settle is the wrong word. They have to make sure they step up

into a very strong with them in their second 500. They have shown

that, that is where they are stronger, I would say, in the

mid-1009 some of the other crews in this race and the one thing about

having such a dominant crew like New Zealand, gold is gone, let's be

honest, unless there is a disaster. But five boats are within a shot of

the silver medal. The French at the moment seem to be doing something

incredibly stupid with their race plan but on a good day, they are in

the mix for the silver. But every other boat has a chance of a silver,

and that is going to make for a very exciting next four and a half

minutes. At the moment, we can see the Italians giving way to New

Zealand and by the time we reach halfway, 1250, New Zealand will be

long gone. 750, Giovanni Abagnale and Marco Di Costanzo from Italy,

Eric Murray and Hamish Bond from New Zealand, Spencer Turrin and

Alexander Lloyd from Australia and Germain Chardin and Dorian

Mortelette from France, that is the line-up for the Olympic final in the

men's pair and in the second 500, they do what they have done so many

times before, New Zealand's Murray and Bond, defending Olympic

champions, hit the front. I said I enjoy the second hundred and marvel

at the third 500 metres now is Great Britain are sitting in second place,

well, second or third, in lane two butt out front, and they will now

move and with such style, they will devour the course, here, in this

third 500, the defending Olympic champions. Multi-world champions,

from New Zealand, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond. Such awesome athletes.

Let's ignore New Zealand now because they have gone, OK? A very

impressive second 500, and an impressive second 500 by the

British, they came from fourth place to just behind the Italians and now

they are in a medal position. This is where the battle for the five

crews for the silver and bronze medals, they swapped it, at the

moment, the Italians are holding off the British, and South Africa I

think are paying for their first 500. The crew nearest to the camera,

the French have yet to come to the party but at the moment, the British

are putting themselves, we are well within touch of the podium which is

exactly what we are looking for. They have got the engine, they have

been built up in the same way the four and the eight has, through long

training, and I think they can overhaul the Italians. It is whether

the French will come back from the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure they

can. But we have to hope they don't. As we come towards the 1500 metres

mark in the final of the men's coxless pair, outfront and leading,

as we all thought they would, Murray and Bond, undefeated in this

combination since 2009. But the medals are all for the silver now.

That is absolutely magnificent, breathtaking from New Zealand, as

they go into the last quarter of this final men's pair. The race now,

just in second place, Sinclair and Innes, in the silver medal position.

Silver is ours, now, if we go for it. The Italians can, they have to

find something very special, having led for so much of the race apart

from New Zealand. They have redlined white from start. South Africa had

arrested the third 500 and slowly inching back but it is basically

three crews for two medals and one of them British. Watch out, Britain,

Lawrence Brittain and Shaun Keeling coming through for South Africa. At

this stage in the race, the British crew, Alan Sinclair and Stewart

Innes, have to be absolutely fearless. This is it, boys. Lay it

down on the line. Put it all out there. This is for the silver medal.

On the right, South Africa, on the left, Italy, Giovanni Abagnale and

Marco Di Costanzo on the left. It could be silver for the British or

fourth place, that is what we are facing. I think South Africa have

got silver and we are battling with Italy for bronze. The Kiwis have

gone. Ignore them, they are brilliant but ignore them. South

Africa have got silver so and it is us against Italy, who is prepared to

give it all right now. 125 out from the line and Great Britain have to

dig deeper than they have ever done before. The Italians are absolutely

redlining it. Come on, boys! The Italians have found some space and

speed again. Up go the Italians, they are coming right back at South

Africa. The New Zealand crowd applauding their boys, New Zealand

making N'Jie Olympic gold medals -- it macro to -- making N'Jie Olympic

gold medals in a row and Italy away from Great Britain and such

disappointment. There was a moment where Great Britain were in silver,

then they were bronze, and unfortunately, the Italians rode

away from us. It is fourth place for Great Britain. -- rowed away. But

New Zealand reigned supreme. They were absolutely awe-inspiring and

look at that, look at the celebrations, but all in a days work

for New Zealand. South Africa laid it on, taking in the air, and the

lungs will be burning, James, and the Italians, we knew they would go

out quick but the Italians, who were put together this year on the back

of a lot of politics and a suspension for doping offences from

another rower, they did not even know they were going to be in

despair, and here they are with a bronze medal. They have shown what

the Italian four showed in their semifinal, they are prepared to go

out hard and back themselves. It looked like they had nothing in the

tank but then they dug deep and found something else. They have been

doing some seriously intense lactic training. They raised well and our

British boys put themselves in the perfect position but did not quite

have the speed in the last 200 metres. They have nothing to regret

but Italy raced very fast and South Africa went out fast, had a rest and

came home fast but the one thing I would correct you on is that the

Kiwis, it is just another day and that day is earned by the thousand,

1200 days they put in in between. They train incredibly hard. They are

happy to pose their training times, predominantly because they frighten

everyone else but they show the intensity of which they train and if

you want to be as dominant as them, that is what you have to do.

Eric Murray and Hamish Bond make it two in a row in the Olympic Games.

There will be disappointment for Great Britain but they've got to

keep their heads up. Fourth is the most agonising and

disappointing position to finish in an Olympic regatta. Sinclair and

Innes must be feeling devastated. We'll talk to them later.

Disappointment earlier for the men's quad looking for a first ever medal

for Great Britain in that event but came up just short. We spoke to them

a few moments ago. Hard lines, how would you assess the

race? Well, we haven't had the perfect run into this regatta. I

shouldn't even be here. We went out with the intention to put our stamp

on the race. You saw we were right up there in this early stage. I'm

proud how everyone attacked it and how we dealt with the turbulent end

to the season. We raced as hard as we could. Unfortunately didn't come

away with what we wanted. But we gave everything. Jack said, we went

out, with the intention to take the race on and put ourselves in the

position to challenge for the medals. I think we did in the first

500, it traditionally hasn't been a particular strength of this crew. We

can be pretty happy with that. The lack of time together showed in the

middle section. Yeah, very proud of all these guys about the run-up.

Jack jumping in at the last minute. I was out on the boat for a week

with a back injury. A week prior to this race. The change in race from

yesterday to today, we held together and can be proud. Proud all round?

Yeah. It's very hard at the moment, as it is in any sporting event. I

think for myself probably the last one I'm doing. So these young guys

can hopefully have another go and break their duck in the men's quad.

In that sense I'd like to say massive thanks to these guys, to

Graham, to Charles, the people I've rode with before, to Paul Stannard

our coach. Right from the beginning. When I started in 2002. Lovely

words. Another go for you do you think? I'll be back. We raced to our

maximum capabilities today. You can't not be happy with that. Thanks

for talking to us, guys, bad luck. Huge amount of disappointment for

the men's quad. There are bond and Murray, the first of what will be a

huge number of media requests over the next few minutes before the

medal ceremony. After winning their 69th consecutive race and the gold

medal in the men's pair. I don't know if we'll be able to have a

chat. James Cracknell has popped down here. How awesome are these

guys? They are incredible athletes, not only have they got physical

strength, they've got... They are not very heavy. The combination of

all these things in your corner means you get races where you are

not beaten. Can we have a quick word with Hamish and Eric? Listen, you

guys are... Extraordinary. It was pretty tricky out there, but you

prepare for this sort of thing, you come here with knowing anything is

possible. Even the we didn't enjoy the water out there and I'm pretty

sure the other teams didn't enjoy it either, we were able to do it. I'm

going to let you go, our colleagues from New Zealand a la you. We'll

talk to you later, many congratulations. They are

remarkable. Let's move on. We'll talk about the men's four because

hopefully this time tomorrow we'll be talking to them in their capacity

as Olympic gold medallists once again. They were hugely impressive

in the semifinal earlier this morning and we chatted with them

afterwards. Alex, you never want to be over

hyperbolic, but that was awesome. It felt good, good to be out in the

lead, and get that lead early. That's what we want in a semifinal,

it's about doing the job, really. Tomorrow is the big day for us, all

these people around us. Having finished the Olympics, winning

medals, we just want that day to come. We did the job today. You put

down a marker. At the halfway point where you thinking, what have you

got? Yeah, it did feel good. We set out to go out more aggressively.

It's been nervy, with yesterday having been cancelled. All that

nervous energy was stored up. Very much I is on tomorrow for us,

looking forward to the job at hand. How would you describe your mood,

full of anticipation, trepidation, excitement? All those words you've

used. It's a weird time, we've spent four years preparing and it comes

down to a week and your race is put back because of the wind, anything

could happen. It's about trying to stay as relaxed as possible. A lot

can go wrong but you can also stay on the right side of it and it's

what we're trying to do at the moment. A quick word about how

you're feeling 24 hours from the big moment. Just saying to radio five

live over there, there is zero honeymoon period, 24 hours till the

big one, when medals are rewarded. The job is not done. No, it's good,

we're in the final. Tomorrow it's all to play for. Really looking

forward to it. Good luck, guys, go for it.

Focused is the word. You can tell, Mo will not be an honeymoon for the

next 24 hours, he's already thinking about the final, that's what they'll

all be doing. They've had an hour to relax, then back onto it. It was a

huge marker they put down, it wasn't like just winning the semifinal, it

was obliterating the opposition. You have to do that in a semi, make your

intentions clear. Semi after semi, third and fourth will be a battle,

it brings the whole field close together. By clearing it out, you

make it easier. They are horrible races, get them out of the way and

secure the middle lane. For now, Katherine Grainger is at the start.

You and I have had conversations on air, but many more off air, in bars,

restaurants, at regattas for the last four years, about whether

Katherine Grainger would carry her career, should she stop at the top

of the mountain? We've been vacillating, saying she should stop

them getting out of the right time is the right time to do it, but if

you feel you can do it again, keep going. Now, the vindication is the

fact she's in another Olympic final. In terms of whether she should or

shouldn't stop, what I thought was the wrong decision was to stop the

two years, to take time out. At her age, you'd think she's 40, Steve won

is last gold medal aged 38. She is older than Steve once. To take two

years out that 38, it's tricky to come back from, it's where I think

she lost her top end. The semifinal showed its the best race since she's

come back. The question for the final is, was it one of or is at the

new level? They've timed run perfectly, the best race she will

have since coming out of retirement. There is no Murray and Bond in this.

It's wide open. The world champions got knocked out in their semifinal

which shows the danger of semifinals. They don't give out

medals for the semifinal, there may have come second in the semifinal,

doesn't mean you will come second first in the final. They are right

in the mix. The crew either side of them. They set themselves up

perfectly for a final but every crew knows a medal is up for grabs. What

are the tactics? You said repeatedly the last 500, people might be

surprised you say it's almost the least important, even though it

result in the finishing line, because you've got to be in

contention at 1500 metres. What are Catherine and Vicky going to be

doing in the four quartets of this race?

Into soft here, what they need to do is put themselves in third place at

least at halfway. There is no dominant crew here. Others will

start to crack, feel the pressure. Because Katherine is still reigning

champion, they will say she has the chance to break people. You can only

bring them if you are ahead of them, you can't if you are behind. You

have to put yourself in a position to hurt them. They have to back

themselves. They will hold on for a medal. They will say, this is the

last 30 strokes I will ever do in my life rowing. Maybe she will carry on

till Tokyo at the age of 44. Does she have the aura, if you're in the

boat and look across, do you see Katherine Grainger and think oh

dear. Do you think it was gone? No, Gavin Grainger and Anna Watkins had

that in London. The years leading up to that they didn't have that. Now

people will be wary of them. They haven't got the aura, but they will

be wary. Halfway, it'll come back if they are in a medal position. If the

Olympic champion is leading halfway in the Olympic final, your thing,

she's been here before. They need to hurt themselves early, race a

painful race like the Italians have done repeatedly this morning. Race

hard, but if it is an 1800 metre race, trust your body will hold on

for the last 200. You heard the strings of the German national

anthem in the background. -- strains. Again. What chances of a

British medal, realistically? Realistically, slim chance. There's

no dominant crew, the first thing they'll need to do is put themselves

right in the mix halfway, it's what they need to do, then anything is up

for grabs. Anyone in there can beat anyone else. On consistency you

would say no, but their performance level from the heat to the semi, if

they can do it again, who knows? We'll let you go to the commentary

box and describe this intriguing race, because of all the back story.

Of Katherine and Vicky. They've had an up-and-down year. Not considered

good enough for selection initially, would they go into the women's

eight? The women's eight saying, no, we're good enough without you. They

find themselves here after all the toing and froing, coming and going,

all the shenanigans. They find themselves in an Olympic final. You

can see at the bottom of the reigning champions from 2012 in

London. What a picture. What a venue. We said so many times, you

can't overstate how fantastic it is beneath Sugarloaf Mountain. On a day

like today it's really one, burning sunshine. Let's hope Katherine and

Vicky are hot today. Let's go to Gary Herbert. COMMENTATOR: Onto the

start now. We're looking at France. They will be going in lane number

one. They sit poised, ready, in the short two year history of this

combination, they had their best race in a semifinal. They need to go

one better here. They were beaten on that occasion by Poland. Poland

sitting in lane number three. The Greeks in fourth. The

Lithuanians in five. Last but by no means least, Tomek and O'Leary from

the United States of America. Everything that has gone before is

now irrelevant for the British double skull.

They are away now in the final of the women's heavyweight quadruple

sculls. It really is difficult conditions in the first 100 metres.

Francine one, Great Britain, Victoria Thornley and Katherine

Grainger, in lane number two. Service France in one. With five,

USA lane six. New Zealand's didn't qualify, the world champions are out

of this. They didn't get through to the final, which has opened it up a

little more for Thornley and Granger. Coming off the water after

their semifinal, the British double skull said it was their best race

they had ever had in the two years they'd had together. They need to go

significantly better to go on the medal podium today. It was without a

doubt Katherine 's best race under pressure since she's come out of

retirement. They need to back it up. First and foremost they need to put

themselves right in the mix at halfway because then the aura has

gone. Of being an Olympic champion. It may have started to creep back

after the semi. At halfway in the Olympic final if they put themselves

in a good position people will think I'm behind the Olympic champion. The

world champions are out. Katherine has a global title, it'll make

people question themselves. They've gone about it in the right way.

They'll have to raise a painful way, but that way their will recover a

couple of minutes after the race. They have to put themselves in The

Hurt Locker right now. Early stages coming toward the first

time in marker. They are out quick. They are dealing with the

conditions, which is good, and they lead now over Poland, just reversing

that semifinal position, only a couple of days ago. 500 gone now.

They had a better start. Great Britain in first place. Look at the

Greeks, they won their semi and they are last, that is what can happen.

In this field anyone can be out. The champions are gone and the Olympic

champion is still in it. People will see the Olympic champion is back in

form. The polls are moving a bit quicker now, as they did the semi

but the Greeks are out of it. The Lithuanians ended up rolling

Catherine and Vicky out in the heats. They will have been told to

attack the first thousand and really get into it and from a personal

point of view that will really establish their confidence here.

Poland are going with them. The Polish team who led them

significantly by this stage in the semifinal were at 750 metres. The

polls were two seconds up on the Brits in the final and they are not

up at all now. The Lithuanians were three quarters of a length down on

the British in the heat and ended up beating them so they will have that

memory in their banks and the British will have that memory as

well and they will make sure nobody would browse through them. We have

just gone through the ad hundred metre mark and Great Britain will

have been told now, a big move and a big step. Look at the legs going

down a bit quicker here. They are pushing on harder and they are being

asked to commit to this race before they have got to the second half. It

is about being dominant on every single stroke. Turn the screw again

on Poland, and again and again. That is what they are doing. So far they

are responding to everything they have been asked. Thornley and

name-mac for Britain. -- Thornley and name-macro. They have eased out

to half a length over Poland. If you had to plan A on your coaching

board, this would be it. They have put themselves in the mix at

halfway. The polls are being asked questions they were not being asked

in the semifinal. The Lithuanians have to go further distance to road

down than they did in the heat. They have cleared out everyone else for

the bronze medal and these are battling over the medals the moment.

Earlier in the season who would've said the British double sculls

Thornley and Grainger would fight for a medal here. Now the two

scholars of Poland and Great Britain are easing away nicely here and

easing and putting on pressure. The Lithuanians were undefeated

throughout 2016 and they are currently in the bronze medal

position but the all-important overlap here, Poland are overlapping

Great Britain significantly and Lithuania are significantly

overlapping Poland. They are all moving at the same speed which is no

good for Lithuania because they are a length down. The crucial battle is

now between Great Britain and Poland. It is oscillating between

which boat is moving the first test. At the moment the British have

regained the initiative. They are definitely holding, if not moving

away slightly from Poland but the polls have their focus down in the

boat. They are not glancing at the British. The Brits are definitely

moving out. The British are moving to a canvas out here. They committed

at 800 and again at 1250 and they are moving very strongly. We are now

coming towards the last quarter here in the Olympic final. They are

turning this around and they are turning it in style. What a

fantastic third 500 here for Thornley and Grainger. They are

leading the team from Poland who led them in the semifinal here. This is

a sensational performance, but still, job done. The moment is here

and now. All the parts -- or the past and its glories and

disappointments is irrelevant for Grainger and Thornley. Grainger is

the defending Olympic champion and she is backed up by Vicky Thornley

in the bow seat who this year is the best sculler that British rowing

has. The polls are moving! It is not moving yet. This is the one area

they are weaker. I really believe they can hold on but they Poles have

their chance to win. They have shown the consistency in the last few

years. They could move from nowhere and claimed gold and snatch it away

from Katherine and Vicki. If you are just watching mental reserve here,

to cruise going at it and exchanging punches here. It is by a foot at the

moment. I think the Poles are going to get it. Poland are coming level,

they are hanging on for dear life. Thornley and Grainger will need one

last push, one last dig deep into the reserve here. They are going to

a medal on this, that is assured, but for them it is all about the

gold medal as Poland get their bowels ahead. This is it, this is

where you have two dig deep. If you don't do it now, you will never have

another chance! Heads up and legs down harder and harder again. They

are hanging on. Poland are feeling the pain. They will be Olympic

champion is here. Here come Poland. Poland get Olympic gold and Great

Britain 's Thornley and Grainger get Olympic bronze medal. The head goes

down from Katherine Grainger and the air are great pleasures in life and

one of the great pleasures is doing what people say you cannot do. This

is a silver medal today and it stands testament to the power of

self belief and sheer hard work from Grainger and from Thornley from

Great Britain here. They have come from nowhere this season and they

are going away Olympic silver medallists. That is something to

applaud. That was a tremendous race. At the start of the week, six weeks

ago when they thought they were revelling in the eight or the

double, they would have taken the silver medal, but to be in the gold

medal position with less than one minute ago, silver will be hard to

take right now. But for a spectator and come -- commentator point of

view it was a gutsy race. They put themselves in exactly the right

position and ask themselves the very tough questions. But vindicated

taking two years off and coming back out of retirement. She was the

darling of 2012 on the roving circuit, winning that gold medal at

Eton Dorney, but here she is now again and if there is one person who

backs themselves 100% it is Katherine Grainger. We salute Vicky

Thornley, all the difficulties that she has gone through throughout this

year, they got back into this double and they are going away Olympic

silver medallists. That was a great points made in the

commentary there, one of the great joys in sport and life is proving

people wrong and so many people questioned the wisdom of Katherine

Grainger coming back to roving after taking two years out that that is an

indication on the grandest of scales and it might even have been grander

but the margin you can see there is less than a second, but the Polish

pair were just too strong in their last 150 metres or so. We will stay

on these pictures because Katherine and Vicki will be coming in very

shortly. We can see on our camera that they are still right at the

furthest point of the course at the moment and all the other boats are

heading in. It was quite interesting seeing the reaction of both of the

athletes at the final moment because they were bashing the canvassing

frustration almost that maybe they thought the gold medal was almost

there and suddenly it was snatched away. Gary, this is a very

interesting approach that both of them will take here because nobody

expected them to do anything, but then suddenly they might have won a

gold-medal. What you are seeing their John is the difference of

taking two years out from Katherine. She needed to take time out from

London but she left it to the last minute to come back in there and we

will always say if, but, when, and if she had only come back one year

earlier she could have been the Olympic champion today. They had a

very torrid season up and down and there would have been nobody outside

of that crew that would have backed them for a medal, and ourselves

included, so hats off to that. In many ways, for all of her medals and

all of her achievements, is this the finest hour of Katherine Grainger to

have achieved she began? Absolutely, in my book, without a doubt. It is

hard coming back because you set the benchmark so high and the

expectation be on the team and the coaches and the public expectation

is that she has to win, but for her it was more than that, it was

showing that she could be competitive at her age. She lay down

a challenge and she met it today. Whatever the headlines will read

tomorrow, she is still the darling out there, and we have to say Vicky

Thornley as well, full credit to her, given everything that has gone

on here. Coming away with a silver medal for Vicky, that is brilliant,

but for Katherine, it is indicated coming back. She would have been

vindicated just coming forth, but there will always be cocktail talk

around the bar in the evenings, if only, if only she had come back a

year earlier she could have two in be gold medals but she has got one

and one is OK! James, would you go along with that? Sorry, I don't have

an earpiece. Gary said this was her finest hour to have achieved this

from a start point. From the start of this week it was tremendous but

right now their elation will be mixed with a bitter disappointment

because within 200 metres the finish line they were winning it but in

terms of having your best two performances in the last two races

in the year since you come back, that is what a champion is about.

They are down on the pontoon at the moment and they will be heading

along the steps and there is the phalanx of cameraman who are taking

pictures of Katherine and Vicky Thornley. I am sure that a few

headlines will be of heartbreak for Grainger but really it should be

elation, shouldn't it? Absolutely, they can go back to the Olympic

Village and know they gave everything they could. They put

themselves before the race and the perfect position to win and to crack

people for a medal and the cracks started to appear as people saw the

Olubi champion ahead of them but unfortunately the one crew that did

not crack was the Poles. A few weeks ago I thought they would never speak

to each other again but now they look quite happy. Vicky is walking

towards us at the moment and if they come straight to us. Listen, many,

many, many congratulations. Yes, it is one of those races that at the

start of the regatta we would have taken up with both hands because we

let most of the way, but there is a bit of a tinge of what might have

been, but considering what we went through the last few years I am so

proud of what we have done and it is a medal that not many people have

had money on so I am pleased. How proud are you? I am so thankful to

Katherine that she did such a good job in that race and it was really

quite a big headwind and I am not sure what happened at the end, not

sure if it got tight or whatever, I'm a bit lost of words if I'm

honest, it was a bit of a whirlwind. 200 metres from the end, did you

think you could win it? I don't think you ever think you can win it

but we knew we were ahead and it was looking good and we have then came

down so quickly and you are drawing on every bit of energy you can find

and it wasn't quite enough in the end, but we put so much into making

sure we were in that position, I don't think we could have done any

more. Vicky, a few weeks ago he went even going to be in the team

selected so this is a monumental achievement. Yes, the last few

months has been really hard but in the last six weeks we'll be back in

the double, every day has been enjoyable but it has been hard and

we had to dig deep to find some big changes, and today they paid off. I

am still, the last 100 metres or so, I mean, the silver medal is pretty

nice. Gary said in the commentary he thought this was your final hour,

given where you came from, taking two years out to almost start from

scratch again to achieve this, do you think almost it might be? Might

this almost in hindsight eclipse London? I don't think anything could

eclipse London because of everything that surrounded it but I remember

the start of this campaign, thinking that if I could come out with

anything, a medal of any kind, it would be my greatest achievement

because of where it started from. There were many dark days when I

couldn't see how this could happen so to be standing here in the rear

sunshine with a medal around our necks as made it all worthwhile.

Tokyo? Mum and dad, I promise, I will never put you through that

again. Silver medallist, Katherine Grainger and Vicky Thornley,

congratulations. There's going to be a tinge of

disappointment no matter the position you start from. I said at

the start of the week they would take silver. Having been within a

snatch of gold within 30 seconds of the line, you can't escape that

disappointment. What they didn't say was how much they put into the first

half, I said in commentary, if there was a manager's chalkboard, plan a

would have been to be up there at halfway and they did exactly that.

At some point you have to pay out of the bank for putting so much into

the first half. Credit to them they almost got there and the polls had

to find something they didn't in the semi. -- the Polish. When you are

neck and neck, head in that situation, and you know it's coming

down to millimetres, and if won Olympic gold medals in that kind of

scenario, how conscious are you of what the other crew is doing? How

much are you focusing on what you do? In my final race at the

Olympics, it was neck and neck, photo finish. I had no idea whether

we had won or lost. You are panicking. Same analogy. Your kid is

trapped under a car and you find something, that's what you need, you

forget rowing, it's natural emotion, you panic. That's what we had with

200 metres to go, everything let out from you trust your body will get

you through, nothing will happen. You can't take any more. Did you

glance across? No, what can you do? It's not boxing, you can't let that

the opposition, it's irrelevant. When you see people looking around

when you commentate, you know they are in trouble. It's not going to

slow them down, it will only affect you. Concentrate on what you're

doing, feel it. In the final bit you are running on raw emotion. There

are no spectators here, very quiet, it would have felt more internal

than external will stop I was musing about peripheral vision. You know

there is somebody there. If there is somebody not there any more, does it

hit you like a smack in the face, do you think, where they've gone?

Absolutely, if you are the first person to lose peripheral vision

from in the men's eight, for example, they can be a third of a

length up, but they've gone. They've gone from peripheral vision. It

requires mental strength until you are a length down. A stroke man has

to be confident when you can't see anyone else. It's nice having a crew

next you going toe for toe. The first medal for Great Britain at the

rowing. I'm touching wood, touching everything, it's not going to be the

last. We've got Heather Stanning and Helen Glover tomorrow and the men's

four, who were in impressive form earlier today. We look forward to

their finals tomorrow. One more final today. British involvement.

Given the roller-coaster nature of Granger and Thornley, who is to say

water and Collins won't come up with the goods here? Let's go to Gary.

Walton and Collins in lane number one. There is an outside

possibility, let's keep our fingers crossed here, and believe. Great

Britain in one. Norway. It's a stacked final. Look at the water,

the wind, making the water more difficult. It'll all be about a

clean first 100 metres, first 250. The brothers from Croatia. The

favourites for this race, the world champions. Lithuania in lane four.

Friends in lane number six. It'll be interesting. It's putting as much

power and speed, keeping their hands moving cleanly, so we're not getting

caught. That is Norway. The two time Olympic champion from Norway.

Olympic Games number six for Olaf. Under starter 's orders.

Against blustery conditions, difficult water here. They leave the

start for the first time. The men's heavyweight double sculls. Looking

at Walton and Collins at the top of the picture, looking to see how they

got out at the start, the first five strokes. Conservative, but that's

OK, get clean, nice and relaxed. Walton and Collins. In lane two.

Tufte, champion in the singles skull, at 40 years of age. Croatia,

the Sinkovic brothers, they've absolutely dominated this event

since they first got into the double skull in 2014. This'll be a hard

race for the British boys mentally. They had the race of the season,

probably their career, to make the final. The elation that comes with.

You have to switch it off and focus on the final because the Sinkovic

brothers are the dominant group. Every one of these crews has a