2:30 am today

Olympics 2024: NZ men's rowing four win silver in 'intense' race

2:30 am today

New Zealand rowers have added another medal to the haul - the third in an hour of frantic action.

The men's coxless four of Logan Ullrich, Ollie Maclean, Tom Murray, Matt Macdonald are Olympic silver medallists, and were just edged by the United States in another thrilling race.

The Kiwi and American rowers shot out to first and second, from where the two crews fought fiercely for the lead.

The Italians were also rowing strongly in third, but it was New Zealand and the US barely an inch apart at the midway mark.

The US were holding off the Kiwi crew on the final leg, but New Zealand were set for a sprint finish.

Just as the Kiwis were creeping up, the States found another gear to claim gold for the first time in the men's fours since 1960, while the Kiwis crossed in second for silver and Great Britain bagged the bronze.

Macdonald said the race was "pretty intense".

"We knew it was going to be all guns blazing from the start, and we had to trust our best race and hope we would be satisfied crossing the line, and I think we did a really close job to that.

"We feel like the Americans got a little bit of a lead at the start and then extended that through the middle and then in the last 500m we drew up to them and it was all go the last 500."

Macdonald said the team "gave it everything" at the finish and were pleased with their efforts.

"The Americans have been a top crew all season and I think we can hold our heads high and be really proud of that.

"I could see out of the corner of my eye we were drawing level with [the US crew] coming into that last bit and it was sort of all on again and we knew it was going to be a sprint, so we had been practising that and we had our minds on it.

"I think we did a really good job through the middle to give us that opportunity and doing that is really hard in a bigger boat. We had to really work to get back level."

Ullrich said it was special to be part of a magic hour of rowing for New Zealand. As well as the men's silver, the women's pair of Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis won gold, while the women's four bagged a bronze.

"It is pretty special for Rowing NZ and the New Zealand team," Ullrich said.

"We have a rich history in rowing at the Olympics and so for three medals today and some more finals to come, it's an encouraging start for us."

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