Derbyshire gets behind Oli as Olympic rower goes for gold

The men’s eight and the men’s pair have taken priority over the men’s four, which James Cracknell helped to two gold medals at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.

The Team GB four, made up of Oli Wilkes David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson were unbeaten since Tokyo until a surprise bronze medal at the last World Cup before the Olympics.

Oli came to prominence after winning the silver medal in the coxed four, at the 2017 World Rowing U23 Championships in Plovdiv and later won a gold medal at the 2023 European Rowing Championships. He then went on to win a World Championship gold medal in the men's coxless four at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade.

“The men’s four are reigning world champions and they won the world championships the previous year,” Cracknell, who'll be working with Eurosport and discovery+ for their Olympics rowing coverage, said.

“With priority of boats, some people have gone, ‘right we are going to prioritise the men’s four’ because in British rowing, the men’s pair and the men’s eight are the top two boats and the men’s four is the third boat.

“New Zealand and America have prioritised their men’s four and they are going quite well last time out. So the four is going to have a tough time but they have won Worlds the last two years so they will be in the mix.”

Cracknell will be calling the action at the rowing as Eurosport and discovery+ deliver the ultimate, multi-platform Games experience with every moment of Paris 2024 available live, across all 19 days of competition.

The six-time world champion has backed Great Britain to return to the top of the rowing medal table after only two medals at Tokyo 2020, and will be hoping the men’s four is one of the teams to bring home gold.

He added: “The boat I was in, we were the top ranked boat. The men’s eight at the Sydney Olympics, they also won gold and a lot of that was fuelled by anger, resentment and a bit of a chip on your shoulder.

“You watch the Last Dance with Michael Jordan and he is the best player on the best team but he still found a way to get a bit gnarly, have a chip on his shoulder to motivate him.

“Having a chip on your shoulder isn’t necessarily about fuelling your fear, it is about using something to your benefit.

“And it is something the men’s four can rally around and have a focal point of ‘no one believes in us’ and build that siege mentality then you can go out on top.

“It doesn’t matter that I was a part of it that boat, I just know what they have put into it and it is a really brutal sport in that it is not a career, you are doing it for six days a week and then you have a day off.

Oli’s quarter have quliafied for Thursday’s medal final after coming second in their heat