Team GB are heartbreakingly DENIED gold medal in men’s rowing pair final and settle for silver after being overtaken in the FINAL few strokes

Team GB were robbed of a gold medal in the final strokes of the men’s coxless pair final on Friday morning.

It was a brave effort from Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Tom George, who pushed hard and built up a lead over Romania after the first 1000 metres.

However, in the last 60 metres of the race they were overtaken by the Croatian brothers Martin and Valent Sinkovic, who made a tireless attack. The British had to settle for silver.

With a time of 6:24:11, the British duo finished just 0.45 seconds behind the iconic Croatian duo, who have now won three golds and one silver between them at the Olympics.

The Croatians were fourth, but they won the last 1000 meters with ease to move into first place, leaving Team GB behind, while Switzerland finished in third place.

The duo were beaten into first place in a dramatic last 60 meters by an emerging Croatian duo

After a brave race the duo had to settle for second place, a painful 0.45s behind Croatia

Wynne-Griffith and George were part of the British men’s eight team that won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

After taking a year off to study at Cambridge and compete in the Boat Race, they switched to the men’s pair.

The two were undefeated ahead of the 2024 Games. In April 2024, they won their first major title at the European Rowing Championships.

At the time of publication, Great Britain were sixth in the medal table, with six gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals.

After the race, an emotional Wynne-Griffith fought back tears.

“A great start. A great first 1950 meters I would say. I just got a digger in the last four strokes. That’s the difference between winning and losing unfortunately,” he said.

‘You’ve trained for many hours to do it well, but today you couldn’t do it.

“But I can’t fault the passion, the determination and the grit that we’ve shown as a couple. I’ve enjoyed the ride, every second of it.”

Brothers Martin and Valent Sinkovic were thrilled to win their third gold medal together

The British duo looked exhausted after taking the lead halfway through the race following a strong start

Martin Sinkovic consoled Tom George after Team GB lost their lead in the final metres

Switzerland (right) took third as George and Wynne-Griffith achieved their best Olympic result

George added: ‘It’s tough of course. These things happen. There was a lot said about us after the semi-final, coming in as favourites and whatever.

‘It has not escaped our notice that at the end of the game the king and the pawn go back into the same square. That has been the case for us all season.

“When we won, we always reminded ourselves that we were going to be hunted. We went there to do really well and we did, but we came up three strokes short. These things happen. Proud.”