What a moment for the young Cork men.

Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy of Skibbereen, already world champions in rowing following their gold medal performance at the 2021 Rowing World Cup, have added the most coveted prize to their trophy cabinets.

The welcome and love for @TeamIreland rowing gold medallists Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan as they return to the Olympic village pic.twitter.com/UaXU2ivwLl

— Gary Lemke (@GaryLemke) July 29, 2021

The pair became legends in Tokyo this morning when they won Ireland’s first Gold medal in Olympic rowing, and Ireland’s first Gold medal since Katie Taylor’s nine years ago. They are also Ireland’s first male Gold medallists since Michael Carruth in 1992. O’Donovan also becomes the first Irish athlete in history to win both Silver and Gold, having finished second in the same event in Rio 2016.

The lads came in at a time of six minutes and 6.43 seconds, beating out Germany and Italy in second and third place.

Speaking to RTÉ after the race, a breathless O’Donovan and McCarthy said: “Expectation and all that stuff doesn’t weight too heavy on us. We just what we always do the best we can it works, I guess.”

Asked about the medal, O’Donovan answered in his trademark laid-back style: “I suppose it’s fine. You don’t really think about the medal itself.”

The tricolour was hoisted to the strains of Amhrán na bhFiann at the Sea Forest Waterway in honour of Irish rowing gold medallists Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan. #olympics #tokyo2020 #RTESport

📺 Watch live – https://t.co/lLKXNhKPkF

📱 Updates – https://t.co/YWfUCcDfUp pic.twitter.com/gxnsj5ZTFp

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 29, 2021

In more disappointing news, Cork’s Sanita Puspure has failed to reach the final of the women’s single sculls event despite being tipped as a possible medal-winner, having finished an admirable fifth in the semi-finals — doing herself and Cork extremely proud.

Header image via Twitter/@TeamIreland