Men’s Four Golden at 2024 Olympic Games

The U.S. men’s four won rowing’s first gold medal of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Thursday at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, putting the Americans on the top of the medal stand in the event for the first time since 1960.

The crew of Liam Corrigan (Old Lyme, Conn./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University/California Rowing Club), Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University/California Rowing Club), and Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University/New York Athletic Club) took the lead as the crews approached the 500-meter mark and then kept New Zealand at bay the rest of the way down the course to secure the top spot on the podium. The Americans held just a bowball advantage 500 meters into the race but used their strong base pace to push out to nearly a one-second lead at the midway point. New Zealand cut the advantage to just a half-second with 500 meters to go, but, the American boat was able to respond to New Zealand’s move and pull away to win by 0.85 seconds.

"We definitely executed really well,” Grady said. “I mean, we knew we had a good start. We knew we had a good base middle. We knew we have a good lift. We felt them the entire time. I mean, hats off to them. They're really great competitors, and they raced it really hard. You know, they even walked back into us (at about) 600 (meters). I was pretty confident that we had the last little bit of speed. We had a full set of moves to go through to sprint to the line. So yeah, executed really well. Really happy with that performance obviously.”

The four, which has been together since last season, won silver at the world championships last year and gold at the world cup race in Lucerne earlier this year. That experience together, as well as their years of rowing as teammates, proved pivotal in their success on Thursday.

“Like to really drive that home, Grady and I were in the 2014 junior eight that came second to last in Hamburg, Germany,” Corrigan said. “There's been a lot of strokes since then. Michael and Justin rowed together (at the under 23 level), and all of us, to some degree, rowed against each other in college and with each other in college and then for the last five years since 2019 in different boats – pairs with each other, against each other. There's so much trust that's been developed in that amount of time. You feel like one unit; it doesn't feel like four people. It feels like one boat. That sounds so cliche, but that's how I really feel about it.”

The victory gave the U.S. rowing squad its first medal of this Olympic Games. The U.S. finished fifth in the event in Tokyo and last won a medal in the event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, taking home a bronze.

“I don't think special does it enough justice because of the amount of meters, hours, days with each other away from our loved ones,” Best said. “You know the funerals you have to miss, the weddings. You have to miss social events. It's all encompassing what it takes to get to this moment. We have a group of four guys that love each other, and like I said, special can't describe it because it really is just like that ethereal bond that I think we've created over the last few years. Now, we have a physical reminder of everything that we put in, and we'll have this for the rest of our lives.”

The men’s double sculls crew of Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington/California Rowing Club) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University/California Rowing Club) came up just short of the medal stand, finishing fourth about a length behind Ireland. Davison and Koszyk got off the line in fourth place before pulling into the bronze-medal position in the second 500 meters. At the midway point, Romania held a 0.38-second lead over New Zealand and a 1.23-second advantage over the U.S. During the third quarter of the race, New Zealand inched its bowball ahead of Romania as Ireland began to make its move to try to get on terms with the American crew. Romania responded to New Zealand’s challenge and re-took the lead as the crews began the sprint for the line. Ireland finally broke through the U.S. with about 300 meters to go. The Americans tried to stay with the Irish boat but was unable to regain the edge. Romania won the gold medal with a time of 6:12.58, with New Zealand winning silver in a 6:13.92. Ireland took the bronze in a 6:15.17. The U.S. crossed in a 6:17.02. The fourth-place finish was the best for a U.S. men’s double sculls crew since 1984 when the Americans won gold.

“It’s been a long journey,” Davison said. “After coming back from rowing the eight in Tokyo, I set myself a new challenge to try and push forward men’s heavyweight sculling in the United States. We haven’t had anything to cheer about and anything to look up to for a long time now. The last time the U.S. made a final in a heavyweight sculling boat was 2008. That was the goal of the last three years, and on a broad view, we accomplished that today just to give people back home something to look up to and some hope, so people can look at this and think we can scull in the United States, and it’s a path worth pursuing.”

“I’m sitting here, I’m pretty devastated with the result right now,” Davison said. “At the same time, we came across the line and Sorin apologized, and I said, ‘There is absolutely nothing to apologize for.’ That was one of the finest pieces I’ve ever been a part of. I think we put all of the pieces together. I don’t think that there is anything that I regret. Realistically, we lost it in the last minute, but at the same time, we put ourselves in a position to be in it with a minute to go.”

The women's four of Kaitlin Knifton (Austin, Texas/University of Texas/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Mary Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass./Yale University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Kelsey Reelick (Brookfield, Conn./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Emily Kallfelz (Jamestown, R.I./Princeton University/Cambridge Boat Club) took fifth in its final. The American crew got off the line in sixth position and was able to overtake China in the second half of the race. Unfortunately, they were never able to work back into medal contention. The Netherlands took the lead off the start and were able to hold off a consistent challenge from Great Britain the rest of the way down the course to win the gold medal. The Dutch boat crossed the finish line in a 6:27.13, with the British crew taking silver in a 6:27.31. New Zealand was able to outlast Romania to win the bronze medal in a 6:29.08. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:34.88.

“I was really proud of how we executed,” Knifton said. “I think we had a really clear goal of how we wanted the piece to go. We’re all emotional because we really felt like we gave it our all, and of course, everyone wanted to do well for each other, even more than for ourselves, and I think we really executed it the best we could have on the day.”

Women’s single sculler Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), a three-time Olympian who finished fourth in the event at the 2023 World Rowing Championships, advanced to Saturday’s final thanks to a third-place finish in the second semifinal. With three to advance, New Zealand’s Emma Twigg, the defending Olympic champion, Kohler, and Lithuania’s Viktorija Senkute took control of the top three positions in the first 500 meters. Twigg held a 1.48-second lead on Kohler at the 500-meter mark, with Senkute another 0.1 behind. Twigg continued to increase her advantage through the halfway point, with Kohler holding a similar margin over the Lithuanian. In the third 500 meters, Senkute made her move to pull into second position and closed a little of the gap on Twigg, but the New Zealander held Senkute at a comfortable distance the rest of the way down the course. Twigg crossed the line in a 7:17.19 to win the race by just under two seconds. Senkute clocked a 7:19.15, with Kohler crossing a length back in a 7:22.33 In the first semifinal, the Netherlands’ Karolien Florijn, the defending world champion, won in a 7:21.26, with Australia’s Tara Rigney finishing second and Bulgaria’s Desislava Angelova taking third. The six scullers will race for the medals on Saturday. Kohler finished ninth in the event in Tokyo. The U.S. last won a medal in the women’s single in 2016 in Rio.

“That was definitely the race I was looking for,” Kohler said. “The taste of fourth in Tokyo (in the semifinal) was strong on my palate today, making sure that that didn’t happen again. To walk away with a solid place in the A final and a chance at a medal, I’m pretty pumped.”

The women's eight of coxswain Nina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Charlotte Buck(Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y./Harvard University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Claire Collins(McLean, Va./Princeton University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Meghan Musnicki(Naples, N.Y./Ithaca College/California Rowing Club), Regina Salmons(Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Madeleine Wanamaker(Neenah, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), Margaret Hedeman(Concord, Mass./Yale University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton), and Molly Bruggeman(Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) won its repechage to advance to Saturday’s final. With four to advance, the U.S. got off the line in third position behind Canada and Australia. The Americans quickly moved into second palce during the second quarter of the race and sat just under a second behind the Canadians at the midway point. The U.S. crew continued to eat away and Canada’s lead over the third 500 meters and put its bowball ahead as the field entered the final sprint. The U.S. won the race in a 6:03.93, finishing 0.88 seconds ahead of Canada. Australia and Italy earned the other two spots in the final. The four crews will join heat winners Romania and Great Britain in the final.

“I thought it was a great opportunity for us,” Musnicki said of the repechage. “There’s never a time that you line up to race that you think you wish you didn’t have to do that. Every race is an opportunity to fine-tune and push the needle a little bit and see if you can continue to get better for the regatta. Everybody knows in the women’s eight, you race once at the beginning and if you go right to the final, you have a lot of time on your hands, so I thought we did a good job of focusing on every stroke and making the most out of it.”

In the women’s double sculls, Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University/ARION) and Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin/USRowing Training Center – Sarasota) finished third in the B final for an overall ninth-place finish. The duo got off the line in fifth position before moving into third in the second 500 meters. Australia led the race from the start, finishing with a time of 6:47.66. The Czech Republic finished second in a 6:49.92, with the U.S. taking third in a 6:50.74.

“It definitely wasn’t easy mentally for either of us to turn around and try to start with a fresh slate,” Vitas said of the B final. “That was the toughest bit, getting knocked down and trying to get up one last time. I think we did the best we could in that regard and tried to put our best foot forward.”

The U.S. will have three boats racing on Friday including the women’s pair and lightweight women’s double sculls, which will be competing for medals.

The women’s pair of Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) and Azja Czajkowski (Imperial Beach, Calif./Stanford University/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) advanced to Friday’s final thanks to a second-place finish in its semifinal. Thoennes and Czajkowski will race against the Netherlands, Australia, Romania, Lithuania, and Greece in the medal race. Australia and the Netherlands won the two semifinals. The U.S. last won an Olympic medal in the pair in 2000 and finished 10th in Tokyo.

In the lightweight women's double sculls, Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif./University of Tulsa/Cambridge Boat Club) and Molly Reckford (Short Hills, N.J./Dartmouth College/New York Athletic Club) finished third in their semifinal to advance to the medal race on Friday. The duo, which finished fifth in the event at the Tokyo Olympics and won silver at the 2022 World Rowing Championships, will take on crews from Great Britain, Romania, New Zealand, Greece, and Ireland in the race for the medals. Great Britain is the two-time defending world champions. The British crew and Romania won the two semifinals. The U.S. last won a medal in the event in 2000.

The U.S. men’s pair of Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) and Billy Bender (Norwich, Vt./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club) finished sixth in their semifinal and now will race in the B final against crews from Germany, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, and Lithuania for overall places 7-12.

Rowing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place July 27-August 3. Racing concludes on Saturday with medal races in the in the men’s and women’s single sculls and eights. Click here for a complete race schedule.

In total, the U.S. qualified 12 crews for the Olympics including the women's single sculls, men's single sculls, women's double sculls, men's double sculls, lightweight women's double sculls, women's quadruple sculls, women's pair, men's pair, women's four, men's four, women's eight and men's eight. The U.S. leads the way with Romania in qualifying the most boats to race in Paris.

Of the 42 athletes who will be competing in Paris, 17 are returning Olympians with three Olympic medals amongst them. Thirty-eight have competed on previous senior national teams, while four will be making their senior team debuts.

USRowing would like to thank our national team sponsors including our Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para Rowing National Teams, Filippi Lido; our Official Apparel Provider, 776BC; our Official Partner, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., our Exclusive Supplement Supplier, Thorne HealthTech; our Official Performance Electronics Outfitter, Nielsen-Kellerman; the National Rowing Foundation; and TrainingPeaks, the Official Training and Coaching Software of USRowing's High Performance Team.