Team GB rowers settle for silver in double sculls ... - BBC World News

Defending Olympic champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter were beaten into silver medal position in the men?s lightweight double sculls by Denmark after the race was forced into a restart when a seat broke in the British boat. Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter were a picture of dejection after being beaten to the gold medal (Picture: Getty) The pair finished second to Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist after the restart ? the rival duo coming back in the final 200m after Team GB had led for most of the race. The original contest was stopped when Purchase?s seat came off its rails and there was a question mark over whether the Brits would be allowed to compete at all. However, the officials ruled that the defending champions could race as the fault had occurred within 100 metres of the start. A farcical episode followed as Purchase was handed a screwdriver and undertook last-minute manual repairs before the boats were called back to the start. Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter wave for the race to be stopped (Picture: BBC) Despite the problems, the Britons had looked on course to take gold again, as they did when setting a new Olympic record in Beijing 2008. But the strong Danes powered back into contention despite finding themselves half a length off the pace at halfway ? pipping the home favourites to the line by 0.6secs. Afterwards, Hunter admitted he was devastated to surrender his Olympic crown. ?We wanted this race so badly,? he said. ?Sorry to everybody that we?ve let down.? Meanwhile Purchase said the problem at the start did not affect their race. ?We did the best race we could,? he said. ?We?ve really enjoyed being part of this amazing team. I just wish we could have been a bit quicker.? PICTURES: Olympic rowing day 8

Source: http://bbc-worldnews.net/2012/08/team-gb-rowers-settle-for-silver-in-double-sculls-after-dramatic-restart/

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