Team USA wins first rowing gold in men's four since 1960

The United States took home a rowing gold medal in a thrilling men's four race at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday, the first time Americans have been Olympic champions in the event in 64 years.

By contrast, Team USA hadn't earned first place in the men's four — a race where each team's boat is steered by a team of four rowers — since taking gold at the Rome Olympics in 1960. The British team were the reigning world champions in this heat and favored to win at the Olympics, but they got off to a slow start.

Returning U.S. Olympians Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan led from start to finish to capture the gold. Only Grady was part of the men's four rowing team that took fifth place in the same competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, while the other three athletes competed in the men's eight, a similar competition involving an eight-person rowing team. Mead, Best, Grady and Corrigan have now been rowing together for a little over a year, according to Team USA, after they were selected to the Olympic team in March 2023.

The men's four at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium was a nerve-wracking race that saw Team USA dominate from the outset, although the Americans were challenged by New Zealand's team, which ultimately caught up to deliver a tight race in the final stretch. A dramatic surge in the final 200 meters was enough to secure gold for the Americans.

Britain's crew kicked off the race with a shaky start but recovered toward the end. Ollie Maclean, Logan Ullrich, Tom Murray and Matt Macdonald rowed for New Zealand, and Oliver Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson rowed for Britain.

In the end, Team USA completed the race at 5:49.03 to win gold. That was just moments before New Zealand's team reached the finish line for a silver medal. Britain took bronze.

Earlier, the U.S. finished fifth in the women's four final, with the Netherlands winning gold and Britain taking silver.