The gold medal-winning British rower Lola Anderson paid tribute to the faith shown by her father after a remarkable last-stroke victory for the women’s quadruple sculls crew.
Anderson was visibly emotional as she recalled her journey to the podium – a major part being when her father, Don, handed her a note seven years after she had written it during London 2012. Back then, as a teenager, she had put in words the dream of rowing for Great Britain and winning a gold medal – but discarded it for fear of appearing arrogant.
“I threw that away because I didn’t believe,” Anderson said of a piece of paper her father, a rower himself, retrieved and returned to her shortly before he died in 2019.
“I was 14 at the time so why would I believe? Young girls struggle a bit to see themselves as strong, athletic individuals but that’s changing now. My dad saw it before I did. My potential would not have been unlocked without the girls I crossed the line with. He would be very proud today.
“It’s a piece of paper but it’s the most valuable thing I have, maybe jointly with this medal now. It’s safe in a tin with all my dad’s old medals in my bedroom.”
In a thrilling finish to a final contested in sweltering heat, the British crew of Anderson, Hannah Scott, Lauren Henry and Georgie Brayshaw overhauled a strong Netherlands quartet at the very last stroke. Their victory by 0.15 seconds felt a watershed for British rowing after the frustration of an underwhelming haul in Tokyo.
“We’ve come back from quite a long way before,” said Henry, at 22 the crew’s youngest member. “If we ever believe it’s over, then it’s over. We will always have belief until we cross that finish line. I felt we’d won it but it was not until I looked at the big screen and saw ‘GBR 1’ that I could believe it, and that moment was ecstatic.”
Scott was the boat’s sole survivor from Tokyo, where Great Britain ranked seventh. They are now Olympic, world and European champions; the Coleraine-born athlete reflected on her turnaround in fortunes over the past three years.
“I still had the belief and the belief never left,” she said. “You have to learn from your tough experiences and I was determined this time around to make sure that if I came back we’d go for a gold.
“British rowing, we’ve been on the up this whole time, and this shows the talent we’ve got coming through.”
