Published at 17:35, Thursday, 21 August 2008

IT WAS third time lucky for Hexham’s first ever Olympic medal winner Matthew Wells, who added a bronze medal to Team GB’s success in Beijing last Saturday.

Bronze duo: Matthew Wells, left, and Stephen Rowbotham at the Beijing medal ceremony.

The former Hexham Middle School and Queen Elizabeth High School pupil rowed a knife-edge race with partner Steve Rowbotham in the double sculls event to claim Britain’s first Olympic sculling medal since 1976.

But it was very nearly silver for the duo. Australia’s surprise doubles act left the pack standing early on and never relinquished the lead. Behind them Great Britain, Slovenia and Estonia jockeyed for second.

At halfway the Britons were inches up on Estonia, and looked capable of catching the leaders. But an Australian surge held them off, and suddenly Estonia drew level again.

It was bronze for Matthew and Steve by five hundredths of a second – a phenomenal achievement and one which has no doubt been celebrated by Matthew’s friends and family in Tynedale ever since.

Matthew (29) headed off to his third Olympics this year, having com-peted in the single sculls at Sydney in 2000 and reaching the finals at Athens in 2004 in the double sculls.

He was cheered on in Beijing by his father John, a former Hexham headmaster, his mother Ann and girlfriend Georgie.

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk