LAUREN Rowles won rowing gold for Great Britain at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in the PR2 mixed double sculls event.
The Bromsgrove sculler won her third Paralympic gold, after also triumphing at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, becoming the first rower to win three gold medals at three different Paralympic Games.
Rowles clinched gold with partner Gregg Stevenson in 8 minutes 20.97 seconds ahead of China in second and Israel in third.
Rowles told Channel 4: “These Paralympic Games you either show up or show out, I said that in the first race.
“It was going to come down to the line the level of competition is high.
“We got out there and stayed on our process and I said to Gregg ‘when I say go, you go’.
“He did that and we just went for it and did our own thing and came through as champions.
“I’m the GOAT, come on!”
Rowles added: “Out of my three Paralympic gold medals, this is definitely the best one yet. To do it for the third time in a row – history was made.
“To have a bit of the Eiffel Tower in these medals and to do it with Gregg has been incredible – he’s been the best part about it.
“We’ve never seen the audience so packed out in rowing before, and I think that really shows how Paralympic sport is going. Gregg’s got two young boys and I’ve got my son Noah who is five months old now, and it’s about a lot more than medals now, it’s about being role models to the boys.
“Our families and partners are our absolute rocks, Jude has been alone single parenting for five weeks now whilst I’ve been in a boat with Gregg. Our families allow us to achieve this, so it goes without saying that these medals today are for our families and for our boys.”
