Champion British pair save unbeaten record in final stretch

Helen Glover (GBR) of United Kingdom and Heather Stanning (GBR) of United Kingdom compete – Reuters

REUTERS: The five-year unbeaten streak of Britain’s all-conquering rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning nearly ended on Monday as a spirited Danish duo led them until the last five metres in the women’s pair heat at the Olympic rowing regatta.

The reigning Olympic and World champions were making a first appearance on the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro after the race was postponed on Sunday due to high winds.

But Denmark’s Hedvig Rasmussen and Anne Andersen took an early lead as they and the Britons pulled away from the pack. Just keeping ahead, they were almost in sight of a famous victory when Stanning and Glover pulled that extra bit harder.

The Britons edged in front just as they passed a stand packed with cheering fans and draped with Union Jack flags.

They finished on 7 minutes 5.05 seconds, just 0.23 seconds ahead of the Danes.

Stanning and Glover have not lost on the international stage since 2011 and it is rare they do not lead from the start.

“It wasn’t the race we were expecting but it’s the Olympics and everyone stepped up their game,” Stanning said. “We won, that’s all we need to do, we’re in the semi-final. We just want to make sure we get there in good shape.

“It’s important to reach the final. It doesn’t matter if we are unbeaten, though it’s a nice statistic to have.

“The Danes showed their speed today. They showed it in the past to about halfway, but they are doing it for the whole track now,” said Stanning, who is a captain in the Royal Artillery and has served in Afghanistan.

Glover said the pair had been working in training on the last 250 metres and it was good to put that to use.

“It was a harder heat than we’ve had before but that’s because they are faster too. We could row better but we weren’t rowing badly.”

They said they had barely been aware of their rivals’ lead.

“The Danes were on the other side. It was all very calm. There was no sense of urgency, we were not frantic or anything,” Stanning said.

Andersen and Rasmussen, who still made the semi-final, said they too were unaware about how close they were to an upset.

“I don’t think we realised until the finish line. We were focussed on our own rowing,” Andersen said.

They nonetheless looked thrilled to have been part of an incredible race.

“It would have been nice,” said Rasmussen. “I think everyone would like to beat the British.”

New Zealand’s Genevieve Behrent and Rebecca Scown, seen as the closest challengers to the Britons, fended off a strong South African effort to win the next heat and reach the semis.

Americans Felice Mueller and Grace Luczak could also pose a threat to Stanning and Glover, who if they win gold again would join Romania’s Georgeta Andrunache, Rodica Arba-Puscata and Susana Viorica as the only multiple gold medallists in the event.