Alumna Becky Wilde savours “incredible” medal moment after winning ‘surprise’ double scull rowing bronze at Olympic Games
Becky Wilde admitted it would “take a while to sink in” after her first season of senior international rowing competition was capped by a brilliant bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Wilde, who is a member of the Bath University Boat Club, and partner Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne were paired together in the women’s double scull in March and only secured their Paris place through the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in May.
They continued to go from strength to strength during the Olympic regatta at the Nautical Stadium, impressing in the heats and semi-finals before placing a fantastic third in Thursday’s final in 6:53.22.
“It’s still sinking in – it’ll take a while to sink in,” said Wilde, who switched from swimming to rowing while studying Sport and Social Sciences at the University of Bath. “It was in the back of our minds that we could medal given what we were doing in training, but to actually go out there and prove that we can do it is incredible.
“Our Head Coach said to us at Final Qualifiers that there is always one crew that surprises, and we wanted to be that crew. To have done that makes all the hard work we’ve put in with our coach [Tom Pattichis] worth it – he’s been incredible, and we have to thank him for that.”
Thursday’s finals also saw double Olympic Champion Helen Glover – who, like Wilde, began her rowing career with the British Rowing talent development centre based at the University of Bath – win silver in the women’s four with Esme Booth, Sam Redgrave and Rebecca Shorten.
Pictured: Becky Wilde (left) and Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne on the podium with their bronze medals. CREDIT: Sam Mellish/Team GB.
