‘The win streak is incredibly impressive and it’s great to be a part of that and carry on the legacy’
Ollie Stanhope explains what it means to him to be part of the history-making PR3 mixed coxed four crew for Great Britain
The PR3 mixed coxed four win gold at the 2018 World Rowing Championships (Naomi Baker)
It’s eight years unbeaten in major championship finals for Great Britain’s PR3 mixed coxed four and two-time world champion Ollie Stanhope is delighted to extend the run.
A fast USA crew gave GB a run for their money in the final – one of the closest PR3 mixed four races since the Para-rowing events moved to two kilometres at the start of the 2017 season.
And with three members of the British crew having changed from their last outing in Sarasota-Bradenton for the 2017 World Championships, it will go down as a memorable win for more than one reason.
“I’m really delighted. We had a tough season with a lot of injuries, including myself, so to come out today and produce that kind of race was amazing,” Stanhope said. “It was amazing to be a part of and a great exhibition of Para-rowing there.
“We knew [the USA] would try and lead us to the kilometre to shock us a little bit but we had trust and belief in each other that we’d move through in the second half.
“That absolute belief pushed us through and I’m really grateful to be part of that crew.”
Grace Clough is celebrating her fifth consecutive title in Plovdiv, with Daniel Brown taking his fourth in five years, having not raced in 2017.
Ellen Buttrick and cox Erin Wysocki-Jones, however, are winners on their World Championships debuts. Stanhope was in their position last year, winning gold at the age of 19.
“The win streak is incredibly impressive and it’s great to be a part of that and carry on the legacy,” Stanhope added.
“There are people like James Fox, who have been around for a while and he has been my mentor, so to kind of fill in for him and keep the success going that he helped start is amazing.”
If you think you have what it takes to become a Para-rower for the GB Rowing Team, check out our talent ID page, which provides information about the different classifications and how to sign up for testing.
