Although the bronze medal was somewhat overshadowed by the gold won minutes before by Britain’s Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, crowds went wild with joy as the team pulled in third.
It was a tense race in which gold medal winners Germany took an early lead. However the British powered onwards, closing the gap in the second half of the 2000m event.
Although the Germans pulled away to win with a clear lead, the British men’s eight were able to stay ahead of the USA and claim the bronze. Silver was taken by Canada.
On the men’s eight win, Piers Morgan tweeted: “Good to see these male British rowers so dejected about failing to win Gold. THAT’S the real Olympic spirit. Nobody wants to come 2nd/3rd.”
