Ireland Men’s Lighweight four have failed to make the Olympic final. The crew rowed well in their semi-final heat but lost out to Denmark, France and Great Britain in the race for qualification.
The Irish crew of Paul Griffin (Stroke), Richard Archibald, Gearoid Towey and Cathal Moynihan (Bow) started well in heat B of the lightweight four, moving into the top three within the opening 200 metres.
As the race approached the 500m mark, Great Britian led the race from defending Olympic champions Denmark. They were followed by France. Ireland lay in fourth, narrowly behind France.
After 1000m of rowing, the top four places remained unchanged with the Irish crew acquitting themselves admirably. At this point in the row, Ireland were neck-and-neck with the French crew and looking strong for a top-three finish and with it a place in the final.
However, between 1250m and 1500 metres the Danish crew began to put some daylight between themselves and the rest of the pack. On 1500m, they were a length and a half ahead of Britain and had assured themselves of a place in the final.
As the four crews approached 1750m mark, the Danish extended their lead and with that the French kicked on. At the same instant Ireland seemingly wilted.
Whether it was seeing the French crew move out of reach or the 38 degrees heat and 48% humidity is hard to say but it was at this point that the race slipped away from them.
At the finish, Ireland lay well back in fourth. The Danes claimed first with France passing Britain on the line.
