South Africa received its third gold medal earlier today, when our men’s lightweight coxless four managed to edge out Denmark and Great Britain in a thrilling rowing final at the Eton Downey rowing centre.

In a nail-biting race, where South Africa was still in fourth place amongst the six finalists at the 1500m mark of the 2000m course, we managed to catch up with the competition to finish in a time of 6:02.84, beating England by a mere 0,25 of a second. A win’s a win though, and we’re happy to take it.

The crew of Sizwe Ndlovu, Matthew Brittain, John Smith and James Thompson crossed the line with expressions of absolute elation on their faces. Silver went to Great Britain, and Denmark took the bronze. Australia, the favourites to win, placed fourth.

The lightweight category of rowing limits the average crew member weight to 70kg, with a maximum individual weight of 72,5kgs. The boat is uncoxed.

[Source: Supersport]