Northamptonshire rower wins Olympic bronze medal with Great Britain’s men’s eight crew

James Rudkin (front row, second from right) and his rowing team won a bronze medal.

A Northamptonshire rower will return to the county with a bronze medal after making his Olympic debut in Tokyo.

James Rudkin, from Litchborough, was part of the Great Britain men’s eight crew which came third in the Olympic final this morning (July 30).

The team recorded a time of 5min 25.73sec and was pipped to the post by New Zealand, who claimed the gold medal, and silver-medalists Germany.

Rudkin, making his Olympic debut, attended Stowe School and has previously won gold medals at the European Championships and the World Rowing Cup.

Rowing is very much in the family as Rudkin’s father - who also had a successful career in the sport - taught his son at their local club, Hollowell Scullers.

The now 27-year-old attended Stowe on a sports scholarship and attained junior honours, before going on to study History and Politics at Newcastle University followed by a Masters in History.

Rudkin and his teammates Moe Sbihi, Tom Ford, Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Tom George, Charles Elwes, Oliver Wynne-Griffith - plus cox Harry Fieldman - were not considered to be realistic medal challenges for their Olympic event this week. However, an exceptional row and a good team display secured them a spot on the podium.

The bronze was just the second medal won by Team GB’s rowers at these games.

Tokyo 2020 is the first Olympics in which Team GB’s rowers have failed to win a gold medal since Los Angeles in 1984.