Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan solidified their place in the Irish history books with yet another Olympic gold in Paris on Friday morning.
Defending champions from Tokyo, O'Donovan and McCarthy were peerless in Friday's final, especially in the second half of the race. The inevitability of their triumph spoke volumes of how imperious they have become in recent years.
Both men have now joined Pat O'Callaghan and Michelle Smith as Ireland's only multiple-gold-medallists at the Olympics, a remarkable feat.
There were jubilant scenes at their rowing club in Skibbereen as the pair took gold on Friday, though it appeared as though plenty of the town's population were also on the banks of the water in Paris.
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Fintan McCarthy was blown away by Irish support on the water in Paris
'The French say they are going to take us for some baguettes and wine'
Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy look forward to the party after winning a second Olympic gold medal in a row 🥇#RTESport #Paris2024
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Speaking after they had been presented with their gold medals, neither Fintan McCarthy nor Paul O'Donovan could believe the turnout of Irish fans at Vaires-sur-Marne on the outskirts of Paris.
McCarthy said that he had not expected to see so many Irish in the crowd, and thanked all those in Skibbereen for their support throughout the pair's journey to back-to-back golds.
The crowd is all Irish people! There's so many Irish supporters, more than I expected, to be honest. Out of this world.
To see everyone here [from Skibbereen]...they've just been so, so supportive of us through our careers. Not just our club, our friends, our family - everyone who's come out. We just can't thank them enough for everything.
The immense Irish support in Paris has certainly been raising eyebrows. On Thursday, both Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were blown away by the amount of green in the grandstands at round one of the men's golf, with Lowry saying that his playing partners were similarly baffled.
Paul O'Donovan revealed to RTÉ after the lightweight double sculls final that he had initially thought the crowd made up a mix of supporters from different countries - before realising that the vast majority were cheering for he and McCarthy.
It's really special. When it comes down to it, this is the same distance course that we have for training in Cork. Believe me, this just a big grandstand and a fancy paint job, there's no difference there.
You're right about the fans. All of the team tents are on top of the boat shed down below the finish line. When we were getting ready to warm up and go to the water, we looked in to the grandstand.
I saw a whole load of green there, then some white and a few of the Dutch crowd you could see standing there.
When we were standing in front of them then on the podium, it turned out it was just the green, white and orange of Ireland! The place is absolutely packed with Irish supporters. Everyone else was drowned out.
[We're] really happy to see the support from home.
This was the final lightweight double sculls in Olympic history, with the event set to be cut from the schedule for LA 2028.
Paul O'Donovan suggested that he would look at moving to a different weight division for LA 2028 but, for now, both men are predominantly focusing on enjoying this sweetest of Olympic triumphs.
McCarthy: So I'll get some nice food, some nice beverages, and see what happens.
O'Donovan: The French said they were going to take us out for some baguettes and wine down town in Paris later on today. They had a good race to finish out the B final, winning that there...they were cheering us on this morning before we went out. The whole lightweight crew are all very friendly lads. Hopefully we'll try and meet up with as many of them as we can later on, as well as a few of the Irish.
A wonderful day on the water in Paris.
SEE ALSO: Here's Every Gold Medal Won By Ireland At The Olympics
