James's Story
James Marburg won a silver medal at his first Olympic Games in Beijing. The Victorian combined with Francis Hegerty, Matt Ryan and Cameron McKenzie-McHarg in the coxless four at the 2008 Games. The crew valiantly qualified the boat for the Games at the final selection regatta and came close to the gold medal in the Olympic final.
On the same day at Beijing, Australia won gold medals in the men’s coxless pair (Ginn, Free) and the double sculls (Crawshay, Brennan). This matched the previous best day in Olympic rowing, from Atlanta 1996, when the women’s coxless pair (Still, Slatter) and the Oarsome Foursome (Ginn, Tomkins, McKay, Green) won gold medals, along with a silver medal from the men’s coxless pair (Weightman, Scott).
Marburg returned to Olympic competition in London as he teamed up with Brodie Buckland in the men’s pair at the 2012 Games. They finished second in their heat and then made it through to the final after finishing third in their semi. In what was a dominant display by the New Zealand pair that claimed gold, Marburg and Buckland finished in fifth place.