The Australian crew entered the final with high hopes when they outpaced Great Britain to record the fastest heat time and win an automatic berth in the medal decider.

But in the final, a mistimed first stroke saw them surrender a half-seat lead and contributed to a sluggish opening 500m which saw the crew slip into fifth place, some 3.59sec behind race leader, Great Britain. 

A place on the medal podium looked distant odds.

But the crew of Christian Ryan, Alastair Gordon, Nick Porzig, Rob Jahrling, Michael McKay, Stu Welch, Dan Burke, Jaime Fernandez and coxswain Brett Hayman dug deep into their reserves of energy and heart to make a concerted surge in their aptly named boat, “Boxing Kangaroo”.

With their muscles burning and physical exhaustion rising to breaking point, the crew stormed past rival crews over the final 100m and reduced Great Britain’s lead by almost three seconds, but it wasn’t enough as they finished a mere 0.8 seconds behind in second place.

“We gave them too much of a lead and paid the price,” lamented Atlanta Oarsome Foursome gold medallist McKay. “It’s not what we came here to get, but I guess we have to take it.”

The men’s lightweight four also finished with a silver medal when an agonising 0.41 seconds behind gold medallist, France.

The “Mighty Lighties” crew of Simon Burgess, Anthony Edwards, Darren Balmforth and Rob Richards seemed set to grab Australia’s sole gold medal of the regatta but only for the French crew to snatch victory with the final stroke.

Aiming to have a boat length lead with 250m remaining, the Australians lead was only half a boat in front, and they mustered all their grit and determination to withstand the fast-finishing French but were ultimately pipped on the line in a heart-breaking result.

“We rowed to win gold. They had to beat us. To lead and have it taken away…we’ve just got to bear it,” said a despondent Burgess.

“I thought we had it, but then I looked across and saw we were a seat down. It was a real sinking feeling. In a split second you go from elation to nothing,” he said.

Australia’s other two crews, the women’s lightweight double scull and the women’s eight finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Elsewhere, Catherine Freeman won her 400m semi-final at the Olympic Stadium, Kerryn McCann was Australia’s best placed athlete when 11th in the women’s marathon, and light-heavyweight boxer Danny Green was eliminated when fighting the final two rounds with a broken right hand after incurring the injury in the opening round.

#MySydney2000