Duncan Free writes his blog about the post-race celebrations.
Celebration
What a week. Its been such a great time here….obviously. Winning that race was such a relief and what seemed to be a great weight off the shoulders, particularly with the preparation we had with Drew's back. In the 8 days of the regatta, apart from the heat, semi and final…we got to have one row of 4km. As I stated in my last post, a little unorthodox but who says you have to be in the boat everyday??
We knew Canada were going to go out quick and we knew if we were with them at the 1000m mark, we'd go well. For those that didnt see the race, that's exactly what happened.
We both went out quick and had good margin on the rest of the field. Then at the 1000m mark (half way) we made a move and got the margin we wanted on Canada and the rest is history.
Crossing that line was one of the best moments of my life. Even better was having my wife Belinda and my parents and bro and sis there to share it all with. It was absolutely fantastic having them all there. I must say that its too hard to my emotions into words…..relief, ecstatic, very proud and over the moon. As you can tell, I'm not really talented when it comes to describing my emotions. The next few hours….or days… after that, I was on a high….actually I still am.
Haven't had a heap of sleep, as everyone else, as you can imagine and we've had a ball since. Its was great to have Belinda and Mel, Drews wife, here. We did much celebrating, some great dinners, watched a few other events, made the most of some hospitality venues, did the Great Wall, and I have to admit the markets and generally soaking up the Olympic atmosphere. As the week goes on, more athletes finish competing and join the party!
It was also great to see James carry the flag and watch the double scull come in also for gold and the four with the sliver, it was a great day for rowing.
Thanks to all those that emailed, sent or sms'd words of support and congratulations. I had sooo many its hard to reply to them all. Looking forward to catching up with everone when I get home…..
