Paris 2024: ‘Really proud’: No regrets for Aussie duo as bold plan falls just short of Olympic gold

Despite falling just short of Olympic gold, Aussie rowing pair Annabelle McIntyre and Jess Morrison say they have no regrets in their bold racing plan which had them pipped at the line.

Annabelle McIntyre and Jess Morrison say they are proud of their bronze medal-winning effort despite having set their sights on gold in the women’s pair.

“We’re really proud of ourselves,” McIntyre said.

“We went out there to execute our race plan and that was to be really aggressive out of the start, get out fast and just race the race really.

“It’s always hard to get pipped on the line but … we put everything out there today and couldn’t have done much better.”

As the priority women’s crew, big things were expected from the pair and Morrison and McIntyre expected plenty of themselves as well, daring to race for gold against world champions Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester.

The Dutch women were never headed though, establishing a lead of a boat-length over the Aussies by the 500m mark and increasing it as the race went on.

Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre took home bronze in Paris. Picture: AFP

But McIntyre and Morrison did not regret racing boldly.

“Absolutely you do (have to dare),” McIntyre said of the Olympic final.

“We sort of knew how other people’s races were going to pan out and we knew what we could do, we knew what we had to do, and the race just unfolded the way it did.

“We’re really proud of ourselves. Proud of the years of training we’ve put in; we’re proud of today’s performance.

“We did it for ourselves, we did it for each other, we did it for our friends and family. We’ve done it for rowing Australia, we’ve done it for Australia.”

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After snaring gold in the four in Tokyo, Morrison and McIntyre are now two-time Olympic medallists.

Their effort salves the pain they felt in Tokyo after poor weather forced them to have to race their pairs semi-final just an hour after the gold medal fours race.

“The Tokyo experience is very different to this experience,” Morrison said.

“This was purely about us and the pair and completing the circle.

“We learned a lot about each other. We’ve pushed each other, our teammates have helped lift us to a higher standard all the time.

“So when you package that all up, that just is such a meaningful journey as well - just as much as this (medal) hanging around our neck.”

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Originally published as Paris 2024: ‘Really proud’: No regrets for Aussie duo as bold plan falls just short of Olympic gold