Paul’s ascension to greatness is no fluke

Lisheen man becomes the first Irish Olympian to medal at three successive Games – and there could be more to come

BY KIERAN McCARTHY

IT was never going to be any other way – Paul O’Donovan’s reaction to creating Irish sporting history was always going to be dismissive, swatted away with a wisecrack.

He is the king who doesn’t like to wear his crown.

‘I think that’s a fluke, to be honest,’ Paul quipped, opting for modesty over indulgence after becoming the first Irish sportsperson to win three Olympic medals at the different Games.

Sensational silver in Rio. Glorious gold in Tokyo. Another glittering gold in Paris. The Lisheen legend at it again. Pure magic, as he ascended to a new level that belongs to him and him alone.

Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy with their gold medals from Paris.

While both Paul and Fintan McCarthy became Ireland’s first athletes to win successive gold medals at Olympics since the legendary Pat O'Callaghan in the men’s hammer throw way back at the 1928 and 1932 Games, Paul’s Rio silver (won with his older brother Gary) separates him from all others, putting clear water between himself and all other Irish Olympians.

Boxer Paddy Barnes has two bronze medals from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, but he can’t lay a glove on Paul’s record of three Olympic medals in three Games.

His history-making feats are no fluke – he is Ireland’s most successful Olympian because he is this country’s greatest Olympian. He’s also Ireland’s greatest rower – his six World titles (four in the double, two in the single) and three European golds (in the double) set him apart. Ireland’s greatest sportsperson? His case is strong, with more to come. Heading to the World Rowing Championships in Canada this month – the only Irish rower from the Olympic team catching that flight – he will target a seventh world title, switching back to the lightweight single. Shades of Rio 2016.

Paul has always worn greatness lightly. When former world rowing champion Niall O’Toole hailed the Skibbereen man as ‘the greatest Irish rower of all time’ in 2016 after Paul won Olympic silver in the lightweight double and, just 15 days later, World gold in the lightweight single, fresh-faced Paul, then just 22 years old, replied, ‘I’d say they’re only talking shite, are they?’

He was in self-deprecating form again at these Olympics, hamming up the underdog tag as the Irish men’s lightweight double of Paul and Fintan were seeded third heading into Paris, off the back of a disrupted season that had seen the Italian and Swiss doubles hoover up all the gold on offer.

Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan with their gold medals from Tokyo.

No-one fell for Paul’s pull like an underdog soundbites – at their best, Paul and Fintan are untouchable and ruthlessly dominant, and the Skibbereen dream team brought their best form to Paris. There was only ever going to be one winner.

European champions Switzerland were put in their place in the semi-final, almost two and a half seconds adrift of the Irish double. A statement of intent by the only yellow boat in the race. The Rowing World Cup champions, Italy, suffered the same fate in the medal race. That familiar dominance we’ve all become accustomed to.

Paul and Fintan were in the mood at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium and, with lightweight rowing now axed from the Games, they’ll forever be the reigning Olympic champions. It’s a crown they’ve earned and deserve.

Paul now stands alone as the most successful Olympic lightweight rower of all time – his three medals elevate him above all others. The Polish lightweight double of Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in Sydney and Athens, but Paul has threaded three Olympic lightweight medals in a row, and has teased there’s more to come, both from him as a rower and as an Olympian, as he’ll dip his toes into the heavyweight pond.

‘I think maybe a small bit. I mean, not much. A small bit, yeah,’ Paul replied when quizzed on whether, now 30 years old, he can get better.

‘I think over a period of time I’ll be looking to get into the open weight squad for LA, for sure.’

He knows from battles at the National Rowing Centre between the lightweight double and the Irish heavyweight double of Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch, who won Olympic bronze last week, that the gap they must bridge is not insurmountable, revealing ‘it’s kind of 50/50 between us who won the pieces in training sessions.’ Fintan has been less committed about following Paul’s path to the open weight, so whether the band stays together to bang out more tunes or Paul has to follow a different route, he will take it all in his stride. This is a man who didn’t flinch when his own brother Gary was knocked out of the Irish lightweight double in 2019 by Fintan. Moving the boat fast is what matters, it gives a better opportunity of winning medals.

Gary and Paul O'Donovan celebrate winning silver in Rio.

‘We’ve always said to each other that we want to be in the fastest boat, whoever that is. If I’m not in it, or he’s not in it, that’s just the case,’ Paul remarked in 2021, ahead of winning Olympic gold in Tokyo. The results speak for themselves – Paul is now a back-to-back Olympic gold medal winner and a three-time Olympic medallist, and he’s not finished yet.

It’s no fluke that the eight-year-old boy, dressed in white Republic of Ireland soccer gear, who met Great Britain Olympic gold medallist rower Fred Scarlett at Skibbereen Rowing Club HQ in October 2022 – the first time Paul touched and wore an Olympic medal, fittingly gold – has developed into the greatest Irish rower ever. Paul’s mentality, physiology, strength, work ethic and drive have all helped him rise to the highest level, and key to his ascension is his enjoyment of it all. Why else would he compete in the upcoming Worlds when he could, deservedly, take a break? That relentlessness comes from his love of rowing, and he just so happens to do it better than everyone else. Like Fintan and himself showed again in Paris. And he had fun in France too, first with the media and the underdog tag, and then with the celebrations after his latest Olympic gold medal.

And Los Angeles in four years’ time is already on his radar. The Sinkovic brothers from Croatia, Martin (34) and Valent (36), heavyweight heavy-hitters, won their fourth Olympic rowing medals in Paris – is equalling that medal haul Paul’s next challenge?