OLYMPIC heroes Tom and Emily Ford say they regard their Paris 2024 medal wins as a ‘thank you’ to family and friends who have paved the way for their success.
The brother and sister rowers, who are former students of The Grange School in Hartford and hail from Holmes Chapel, lit up the French capital on Saturday morning when each won Olympic Games medals.
Emily, 29, was in the Team GB women’s eight boat which won bronze and then 20 minutes later Tom, 31, won gold with the men’s eight at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
It was a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Emily, whose crew did not reach the final in the Covid-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic regatta.
And although stroke-man Tom and his team went to Paris as world champions, it was a first Olympics gold medal to add to the bronze won in Japan three years ago.
“It’s quite hard to put into words to be honest,” said Tom, as he shared his delight while stood beside his sister with smiles gleaming as brightly as the medals around their necks.
“I’m sure once we get a chance to sit down it will settle in and to be able to do it alongside my sister it’s amazing.”
Emily added: “It’s pretty surreal. Even though you may believe you can get a medal I think when it actually happens you can’t quite believe it.
“I’m immensely proud that Tom has managed to achieve gold, and to watch him do it and to be alongside him is just incredible.”
The commitment and dedication required to succeed in an Olympic Games is immense, this includes the siblings moving away from home to progress their careers with the Leander club in Henley-on-Thames.
But straight after the medal ceremony they were eager to point out they could not have done it on their own, paying tribute to their parents Paul and Christine along with their elder twin brothers John and Edward whose own successful junior rowing careers inspired the pair to try the sport themselves.
Tom said: “For us, the sacrifices are all part of our job and our lives because this is our life.
“But sacrifices come from our parents, our family, our friends and all those closest to us.
“And I think ultimately we just have to say thank you because these medals that we’re wearing are for them – to give to them to say ‘thank you, this sacrifice was worth it’ and that’s the bit which makes me happiest, being able to see them and give something back.”
Emily added: “Our friends, our family, everybody has made so many sacrifices.
“We’ve made a lot of sacrifices because you miss a lot of family and friends events, you miss a lot of things, and there’s the monetary sacrifice from mum and dad.
“There are a lot of sacrifices to make but it’s all worth it when you’ve got one of these round your neck and you can share it with them.”
Tom also expressed their gratitude for funding from the National Lottery.
“We’re incredibly lucky and thankful we’ve got the National Lottery to support the elite side of sport which is ultimately the reason we are on the podium,” he said.
Both the men’s and women’s eights qualified automatically for the final thanks to the quality of their performances in the heats last Monday, meaning they did not need any extra races in the repechage round.
In the final, the women’s eight which included Heidi Long, Holly Dunford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Annie Campbell-Orde, Hattie Taylor, Rowan McKellar and cox Henry Fieldman, were squeezed out by Canada for the silver, and held off the threat of Australia to cross the line third.
Top three result: 1 Romania, 5:54.39; 2 Canada, 5:58.84; 3 Great Britain 5:59.51.
Tom’s crew, which included Sholto Carnegie, Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, Jacob Dawson, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin and cox Harry Brightmore, were dominant from the point they got their noses in front in their final on what proved to be a momentous day for the family.
Top three result: 1 Great Britain, 5:22.88; 2 Netherlands; 5:23.92; 3 USA, 5:25.28.
“I saw about the last five strokes of Tom’s race, the most important,” said Emily.
“I’m really proud Tom’s achieved gold, but also super-proud of what we’ve done to get on the podium as we’ve overcome so much in the past few months with injuries and other things.”
Tom said: “The race felt like eyes closed, put some watts on the end of the handle, and see what happens.
“I looked around in our team meetings, looked every guy in the eye, and just knew there was no one I’d rather be out there with.”
The Fords also made history by becoming the first brother and sister to represent Team GB at two Olympic Games.
This time around though, Emily explained how the experience was a full one compared to the Covid-hit edition of three years ago “Tokyo was completely different,” she said.
“Our run-in was impacted by Covid and it all felt very different with being behind closed doors and there was a lot of mask wearing. I think they had quite a lot to play into things.
“Now that we’re able to train a lot freer and be a lot more together, it really helps to boost the team energy and to boost each other up.”
They will look forward to rewatching the races as a family.
Tom said: “It’s not planned, I’m sure it will happen – we’ll probably end up forcing it on them to be honest.
“They’ve watched it live and been through the emotional turmoil so I don’t know if they’ll want to relive it but we’ll do our best to get them to watch it with us.”
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