"Shit, we said we were going ahead": Bové and Tarantola tell about their mad race for the medal at the Tokyo Olympics

In addition to getting the sports enthusiast up at a time when he'd better be in bed to avoid dark circles at work or spend his afternoon snoring by the pool on vacation, French rowing has decided to play with his heart.

After the tandem Matthieu Androdias- Hugo Boucheron who scratches his gold medal for 20 hundredths on Wednesday, the tandem Claire Bové-Laura Tarantola also gave his share of cold sweats to snatch the silver medal of the lightweight two-pair Thursday morning in Tokyo.

"We knew that they could do a like six, because in this discipline, everyone has the same type of boat, and above all, they all weigh 57 kg on average (Editor's note: the regulations impose it), explains Christine. Gossé, director of the French women's team and bronze medalist in Atlanta in two coxless.

So these are the ones that are ready on D-Day, the ones that will row the best depending on the basin conditions ... You have to be ready physically and mentally, and there they were in full possession of their means.

"

To read alsoTrack minute by minute the day of Thursday

But the French final promises to be very dense.

The day before, the British and Italians broke the world record just a few minutes apart in the semi-finals.

In the wake of a national team that impresses at the sea forest channel, the Dutch are announcing themselves as customers.

“I was so confident, slips their trainer Frédéric Perrier.

Before I left, I told them:

You are the best

.

"

"Go, we have to get out of there"

Basic shot of Les Bleues: get off quickly when entering Japanese water on their number 2 line. “We didn't go ahead. I said to myself:

Shit, we said we were starting from before

, describes Claire Bové, licensed at the Mantes-la-Jolie club. And then, I hear the Dutch women next door. Laura kept telling me:

We're in the mix!

All that was left was to have fun and give everything. "

After a kilometer of the race, the two French women are second, 38 hundredths behind the Dutch. But the Blue are retreating little by little. "They did not see themselves taking the ascendancy," describes Matthieu Androdias, whose powerful whistles with his fingers made half of the stand deaf during the last few meters of the race. You have to be mentally armored in these super tough races. “At 500 meters from the line, they are the last of the four-way game between Italy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

But Claire Bové and Laura Tarantola worked their finish, a weakness for a long time. “It has even become a big strong point, underlines Frédéric Perrier. They are among the strongest, if not the strongest, in this part of the race. On the water, the two friends understand that it is time to give everything. “At 750-500 meters, I said:

Go, we have to get out of there

, because it smells .... I don't know what it smelled like, but it didn't smell good, laughs Tarantola, the most experienced of the duo. You had to try something while staying clean. "

🇫🇷🥈 FRANCE WINS THE SILVER MEDAL!

An incredible ending with an unbearable suspense.

👏 Laura Tarantola and Claire Bove come a few hundredths behind the Italian Olympic champions.

► Follow the Olympics live: https://t.co/t3mdRtumdd pic.twitter.com/KHvu9rJisC

- France tv sport (@francetvsport) July 29, 2021

In the stands, tricolor rowers and coaches scream all they have in their lungs to carry the duo. “We don't really hear what's going on outside at the time, but it's so inside our body that we can hear them screaming in our head anyway,” says Claire Bové. The line is near, very near. And the Dutch boat, which set off to grab the gold, commits a big technical fault. French women are tearing themselves apart, beyond suffering. "We empty the hourglass there", summarizes their coach.

The quartet passes in the line, all more tired than the others. "I said to Claire:

Whatever the result, it's so cool, thank you

". Water, difficult to distinguish a clear hierarchy, even if the scoreboard first indicates the first place of the Italians Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini. Then, the name of the tricolor pair appears in second place, which makes Matthieu Androdias roar with joy.

“Look, it's marked two,” Tarantola says to Bové.

“No, it's the water line,” her 23-year-old friend replied.

“Afterwards, I see that they show us in the image, I say to myself:

But noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, it's not true!

The French women are Olympic vice-champions, which they fully realize when they are directed towards the pontoon of honor.

That was so close!

Here's the photo finish if the lightweight women's double sculls Olympic final 👇 # olympicrowing #rowing #worldrowing # Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/LiOMiGQyaH

- World Rowing (@WorldRowing) July 29, 2021

Behind, third place came down to nothing. Well almost: a hundredth ahead for the Dutch over the British, separated at the photo-finish. The mad race is over. And France comes out with a ninth medal in these Games.