PLYMOUTH rower Jacob Dawson helped Team GB power to a thrilling gold medal in the men’s eight event at the Paris Olympics.
GB were pushed hard by the Netherlands before pulling away in the final stages of the 2,000m race.
Dawson, who had won a bronze medal in Tokyo in the same event, was joined in the boat by Cornishman Morgan Bolding, Sholto Carnegie, Rory Gibbs, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin and Tom Ford.
Afterwards Dawson said: “There’s a bit of sadness that this is the end, but complete and total elation that we have capped off this project in the right way.”
The former Plymstock School pupil competed in Paris after recovering from a life-threatening blood clot and a collapsed lung after contracting covid in 2022.
He admitted he was ‘grateful’ to be around to tell the story and that the experience had given him a ‘new lease of life’ and fresh mentality.
“It’s given me a much more healthy relationship to why I’m here and the goals I have in life,” he said ahead of the Olympics.