'Shorten looks for silver lining as Team GB pipped to gold'

Rebecca Shorten smiled as she made her way through the hoards of assembled media, dutifully pausing to answer all the questions posed to her.

It was only minutes after she helped the GB women’s four to a silver medal in another thrilling final at this Olympic regatta.

When she arrived in the mixed zone, Shorten was unaware of the margin of defeat.

Upon being informed it was eighteen-hundredths of a second, Shorten looked a little crestfallen, perhaps processing how close she had come to winning gold.

Twenty-four hours earlier Great Britain and the Netherlands had been involved in another epic battle.

That one went the way of Team GB - which included Northern Ireland's Hannah Scott - by 0.15 of a second in the women’s quad sculls.

"I'm delighted to get silver but obviously we're going in for gold," said Shorten.

"We gave it everything we could out there and just didn't have it on the day, so, yeah, got to be happy with it."

The margins are brutally fine at Olympic level, and while this was still a significant achievement, it will take time before it truly sinks in.

“Exactly, that's why I'm trying to enjoy this, I don't want to look back and say that I didn't win and I am really proud of everything that we've done, so, I'll take it," added Shorten.

The race itself had gone to the script.

The Dutch powered off from the start and held the early lead but by halfway Shorten had stroked the GB boat back almost level.

For the next 1,000m the two crews battled stroke for stroke all the way to the line.

By the slimmest of margins, the Netherlands added the Olympic gold to their world title.

"We had a good start I would say, got into it, we could tell that they were there and we just kept trying to hold on, hold on," said Shorten.

"I think in the finish I thought we were maybe going to do it but we didn't."

Shorten had known the disappointment of finishing fourth in an Olympic final in Tokyo, but put that behind her by going on to win the women’s four world title in 2022.

When two-time Olympic champion Helen Glover returned to the GB squad the following year, it caused a shake-up in selection, and despite some teething problems, the year still ended with a world bronze medal.

This season, with Shorten and Glover joined in a more settled combination by Esme Booth and Samantha Redgrave, the quartet had gone unbeaten and won the European Championships.

The expectations were sky high for an Olympic title.

"I know when obviously you train so hard together and you focus on just one thing, sometimes it can be tough when it doesn't quite go your way.

"I think because obviously we've had a very good year, we've come together very well, and I think it's just a bit gutting to not do it on this day."

However, Shorten has contributed to the greatest ever Olympic Games for athletes from Northern Ireland.

The medal count is now three golds, a silver and a bronze in the space of less than 48 hours.

"We've had a great stand from Northern Ireland, it's been a lot of gold, so that's honestly amazing.

"The crowds have been amazing, my friends and family, everyone that's watching. The support's honestly been unbelievable."