Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan have won another gold medal in the lightweight double sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade.

The reigning Olympic champions retained their world title, a fourth in a row for O'Donovan and third for McCarthy, after reeling in Switzerland and holding off a late challenge from Italy, who claimed bronze.

As is their custom, the Irish stars were content to let their rivals set the early pace, and were fifth, but by just a few metres, at the 500m mark.

By the halfway stage they had moved up to second, just half a length behind leaders Raphael Ahumada Ireland and Jan Schaeuble of Switzerland.

McCarthy and O'Donovan had drawn level approaching the 1500 mark however and hit the front shortly after, winning relatively comfortably in a time of 6:32.09.

Stefano Oppo, a runner-up to the Irish in the last two finals, and his Italian crewmate Gabriel Soares made a late push but the Swiss held them off by .39 of a second for silver, finishing in 6:34.38.

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"I was just focusing on the rhythm. We had a really good row and nice to be up there again," said McCarthy, speaking to RTÉ Sport's David Gillick.

O'Donovan highlighted the overall successes of the teams Ireland sent to the championships, with six Olympic spots and one Paralympic place secured over the last three days.

"It's definitely a strong team showing," he said."I can't actually count myself how many boats have qualified now. It must be one of our highest ever."

Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney won a superb bronze medal in the men's pair.

The Irish duo assumed the early lead and were a few metres ahead of Great Britain at the 500 mark.

By the halfway stage they were 5m clear of Switzerland with favourites GB back in third.

The Swiss inched ahead at 1500m and started to pull clear, meaning Corrigan and Timoney were now in a battle for silver.

It looked like the Irish men would hang on but Tom George and Oliver Wynne-Griffith caught them just before the line.

Corrigan and Timoney had already secured a big prize in their first season together by earning qualification for Paris 2024 off their semi-final performance.

Corrigan said the duo would look to push on further after their medal success.

"For us obviously, we're going to be delighted with bronze now but heads are going to go down next season and we'll push on," he said.

"The competition is on now. We're on the podium today and we're here to stay."

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Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh were fourth in the women's pair A final.

The duo, who previously won Olympic bronze as part of the women's four at Tokyo 2020, had already clinched a spot at next year's games by finishing second in their semi-final.

At the halfway stage, the Dutch duo of Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Clevering had pulled over a length clear of Australia with Romania, the USA and then Ireland battling for bronze.

Keogh and Murtagh had moved up to fourth by the 1500m mark but Romania then closed the gap to Australia, who pushed the Netherlands close and the Irish were a distant fourth, four and a half seconds further back.

Steven McGowan and Katie O'Brien

Steven McGowan and Katie O'Brien finished fifth in the para-rowing mixed double sculls A final.

Ireland were fourth at times in the early stages but had slipped to fifth by 1000m.

They were unable to close the gap to bronze winners Poland, who finished six seconds ahead, and the Netherlands, but did hold off Ukraine.

The race for gold quickly turned into a battle between China and Great Britain. The Chinese duo led narrowly at the 500m mark but GB were inches ahead just at halfway.

The lead changed hands in the closing stages but Lauren Rowles and Greg Stevenson produced a late surge to take it by half a length from Shuang Li and Jijian Liang.

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Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen secured another Olympic berth for Paris 2024 with their win in the lightweight double sculls B final.

Eimear Lambe, Natalie Long, Imogen Magner and Sanita Puspure were third in the women's four B final.

Ronan Byrne, Brian Colsh, Konan Pazzaia and Andrew Sheehan won the men's quad C final while Jack Dorney, John Kearney, Adam Murphy and Fionnán McQuillan-Tollan finished third in the men's four C final.