Paul O’Donovan, is less interested in the tally of his gold medal victories at the World Rowing Championships, and more about the sheer act of rowing. Notoriously, he captured his seventh gold in remarkable fashion at the Royal Canadian Henley course in St Catharines, Canada on one recent Saturday. This followed his win of the lightweight single sculls title just three weeks subsequent to winning the Olympic doubles title in Paris with his partner, Fintan McCarthy.
O’Donovan is known as one of Ireland’s most praised athletes, yet it is not the medals that continue to propel him as the world’s premier lightweight rower. When he was acknowledged for his seventh gold medal at the World Championships, O’Donovan humbly suggested that he was merely helped along by others for most of his triumphs, and he cannot claim all the glory.
Only three weeks earlier, O’Donovan penned his unique chapter in the annals of Irish sports history in Paris. He became the inaugural Irish sportsman to claim a medal at three consecutive Olympics – a remarkable feat consisting of his silver in Rio (alongside his elder sibling, Gary), gold in Tokyo (together with McCarthy), and now his third gold in the single sculls.
The event he recently competed in was a combined championship contest designed for non-Olympic and non-Paralympic boat classes, of which six were disputed, and it coincided with the World Under-23 and Under-19 Championships. This all took place in the wake of the recently concluded Paris Olympic Games and ahead of the forthcoming Paralympic Games.
Familiar to the lightweight single-sculls event, the last instance O’Donovan competed in the combined World Rowing Championships in 2016, at age 22, he nabbed the gold in the same boat category. He defended his title successfully in 2017 before switching to double sculls, his preferred competition in recent times. With everything taken into account, O’Donovan now boasts a total of seven world rowing titles, split between the lightweight single and double sculls, complimented by three Olympic medals (two golds and one silver), and five European rowing awards.
Siobhán McCrohan, the defending champion, also added a bronze to her collection in the lightweight women’s sculls final.
A 37-year-old competitor from Claregalway was looking to secure silver, trailing behind Romania’s Ionela Cozmiuc, during the 1,000m and 1,500m segments. However, Greek rower, Zoi Fitsou took the silver, bypassing the Irish contestant within the last 100 meters. Cozmiuc, a former silver medallist for Romania, and Fitsou, Greek bronze medallist, were members of the lightweight double sculls team at the Paris Olympics.
The experience wasn’t smooth sailing for 30-year-old O’Donovan. Antonios Papakonstantinou of Greece set a challenging tempo during the initial 500 meters. Despite this, by midway, O’Donovan had moved into second place and eventually advanced to the lead at the 1,500m point, even with a swan nearly entangling his oars. He then increased his lead over Papakonstantinou and maintained his position, expanding his lead within the concluding 250 meters. He triumphed overtly, clocking a finish time of 6:49.68. Niels Torre from Italy, who was the fastest qualifier the previous Sunday, settled for bronze.
O’Donovan, although slightly weary after the race, admitted that his strategy was steered by the swift start from Papakonstantinou. “The Greek’s initial speed was threatening, and I decided to keep up,” he said. In the end, I managed to get slightly ahead and strived to work harder so as to not end up in a sprint at the finish line. I observed the United States and Italy in a tough Competition. I was content crossing the finish line in first place.”
However, this was not the first commendable win for O’Donovan. He possesses an immense collection of medals.
At the Olympics, he secured gold in Paris 2024 and Tokyo 2020, both for the lightweight double sculls alongside Fintan McCarthy. He also took silver at Rio 2016 with Gary O’Donovan. Regarding the World Championships, O’Donovan boasts of Golds from Rotterdam 2016 and Sarasota 2017, both for Lwt single sculls, and another from Plovdiv 2018 for Lwt double sculls with Gary O’Donovan.
The text chronicles the accomplishments of a rower who achieved a variety of accolades alongside Fintan McCarthy and Gary O’Donovan. The winning streak began with a gold medal in the Lwt double sculls at the Ottensheim competition in 2019. This success continued into 2022 with a gold in Racice, followed by another gold in Belgrade in 2023, both in the same category.
In St Catherines, the rower triumphed in the Lwt single sculls. At the European Championships, he and Gary O’Donavan seized a gold medal in the Lwt double sculls in Brandenburg in 2016. Paired with Fintan McCarthy, they claimed gold medals in Varese in 2021 and Munich in 2022 in Lwt double sculls. The duo of O’Donavan and the rower also earned silver medals in Racice in 2017 and Glasgow in 2018 while participating in Lwt double sculls.