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As schoolchildren, Tom and Emily Ford once rowed in the four alongside their older brothers John and Ed for the Grange School.
Given that half that boat would go on to become Olympic medallists at Paris 2024, you’d assume that they would have been absolutely unbeatable, and yet all the talent did not quite come together.
Emily recalled: “We’ve been out with our two older brothers in the four before and it wasn’t very good from memory. There were no arguments but it didn’t quite gel.”
Thankfully for the duo, that was absolutely not the case on the final day of the Olympic regatta at the Stade Nautique in Vaires-sur-Marne, as Emily was part of the women’s eight that won bronze before older brother Tom helped the men’s eight to gold 20 minutes later.
In doing so, they made history, the first brother and sister to win medals at the same Olympic Games for Team GB since 1908 – matching the exploits of archers William and Lottie Dod in London 116 years ago.
And both siblings were quick to pay tribute to the part their parents, Paul and Christine, had played in getting them to this point.
Tom said: “Mum and Dad didn’t push us into anything but they encouraged us to try all sports. They wanted us to follow our dreams and do what we enjoy.
“That happened to be rowing and they have supported for us ever since we made the decision that we wanted to do it full time. Ultimately, they are the reason we were on the start line and the podium today.”
Tom, 31, was preparing for his Olympic final as Emily, 29, brought home bronze behind Romania and Canada, alongside Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Holly Dunford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Hattie Taylor and Annie Campbell-Orde.
But Tom made sure to find out what had happened before his own bid for an Olympic medal.
He said: “I asked the cox Harry [Brightmore], because I couldn’t see the big screen. He said they got a bronze. Then I kept it internal. When you are out there on the water, you know you have a job to do. That’s what we train for.”
Despite the entire family starting rowing from an early age, Emily is the first to admit that she did not take to it straight away. But having conquered her fear of the water, and with the support of her older brother, she has shown that slow starters can come good.
She said: “I was definitely petrified of falling in.”
Tom joked: “If you’ve seen her in a swimming pool, you’ll understand why.”
She added: “I remember going into a boat for the first time and I went straight into a bush, so I didn’t start as a natural.”
Once she had got to grips with it, the support of an older brother proved invaluable, even up to the final preparations for this regatta.
She added: “We know each other inside and out. We have pretty much followed the same path, so we’ve had support from each other all the way.
“We’ve been with each other through the ups and the downs. It’s definitely an advantage, the other day we didn’t have a good session and I spoke to Tom and he said don’t worry about it, it will come together and it did.”
The victory of the men, where Ford was joined by Sholto Carnegie, Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, Jacob Dawson, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby and James Rudkin, was hugely impressive.
Neck-and-neck with the Dutch at halfway, they stepped it up on the third 500 to pull clear and establish a lead they would never relinquish.
That victory brought down the curtain on a hugely successful regatta for GB. Three years ago, Great Britain picked up just two medals and no golds in Tokyo with a massive overhaul following.
That appears to have paid off as GB came away with eight medals including three golds, their best-ever return for an overseas Games.
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