Tara Rigney will look to follow in the footsteps of her rowing idol Kim Brennan when she races for gold on the final day of the Olympic regatta at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium outside of Paris.
Brennan won a famous gold in Rio 2016 in the Single Sculls and has mentored Tara, a 25-year-old from Sydney, as she pursued her own Olympic dream.
She now finds herself rowing for gold in Paris after a confident series of prelims that have her poised to add an Olympic medal to the dual-world championship bronze medals already in her collection.
Reigning world champion Karolien Florijn will be in the next lane and is the one to beat, alongside defending Olympic champion Emma Twigg from New Zealand. But Tara is a fierce competitor and will leave it all on the line.
Tara will be in action from 5.30pm AEST on 3 August.
The Rowsellas will also have both Eights racing for medals after they qualified for A Finals via the repechage.
Both crews turned in improved performances in their second row and will look to continue that momentum with medals on the line.
Olympic champion from the Tokyo Four, Lucy Stephan, will try to add another medal as she crews the Eight, while the men’s boat is full of experience in the likes of stroke Angus Widdicombe and Tokyo Fours champions Jack Hargreaves, Spencer Turrin and Alex Purnell.
The Eights are on the water at 6.50pm AEST on 3 August.
Phil Lutton
