London 2012: Solesbury’s crew finish in fifth

Great Britain's men's quadruple scull crew of (left to right) Matt Wells, Tom Solesbury, Charles Cousins and Stephen Rowbotham react after failing to medal in the final of the Men's Quadruple Sculls. Photo credit: Stephen Pond/PA wire

Friday, August 3, 2012
12:33 PM

Olympic rowing; First ever British quadruple scull finalists finish outside the medals

Kent-born rower Tom Solesbury missed out on an Olympic medal as the Great Britain men’s quadruple scull crew came fifth in the Olympic A final.

The Team GB quartet had already made history in reaching the last round but they were up against a strong field.

Slow out of the starting gate, they but worked their way to third after the 500 metre mark of the 2,000m course at Eton Dorney.

In front of them were Croatia – the fastest boat this year – and a strong German crew who pushed out in front and never looked back.

Solesbury’s team were still in the medal positions at the halfway mark but when the world champion Australian team pushed past them into the bronze medal position their bid began to falter.

The British squad held off the challenge Polish Olympic champions but not Estonia who dropped them into fifth position as Germany, Croatia and Australia took gold, silver and bronze respectively.