REFLECTIONS
Alex Purnell
AUSTRALIA
EVENT M4-
PLACING GOLD
On the flight out to Tokyo I felt ready for the Olympics. It was going to be a case of flying in, racing, and then flying out; so everyone was very focused.
Before we left, we completed a good block of training, and we had some cracking races. But in-house racing is never the same as a proper international meet. So, it was good to get the heat out of the way and remember the feel of racing again.
Although we won the heat, we didn’t row that well and I think that came from not having raced for a while. We knew we could row better and be a bit more on-task. And if we did that, we thought we could be on the podium, if not win the gold medal. I suppose we were quietly confident that our best race would put us in a strong position.