Doyle and Lynch win Olympic bronze in double sculls

Philip Doyle became the fourth athlete from Northern Ireland to win a medal at the Paris Olympics as he finished third in the men's rowing double sculls with Daire Lynch.

The Team Ireland rowers clocked 6:15.17, finishing behind gold medal winners Romania (6:12.58) and the Netherlands (6:13.92).

Doyle, from Banbridge in county Down, joined Daniel Wiffen, Jack McMillan and Hannah Scott in winning medals at the Games, which have become the most successful in history for athletes from Northern Ireland, and some 20 minutes later, Rebecca Shorten added to the tally by clinching silver in the Great Britain women's four boat.

After settling into the race in fifth position, Doyle and Lynch pressed in the final 500 metres to pull away from the United States and take bronze by less than two seconds.

Doyle and Lynch celebrated after realising their achievement, and were beaming with pride as they were presented with their bronze medals.

The crew's success is also Ireland's third medal of the Games after swimmers Wiffen and Mona McSharry won gold and bronze in the pool.

Securing a bronze medal had been a long-awaited moment for Doyle, who still felt the need to apologise for his performance at the Tokyo Games three years ago when the double sculls crew failed to medal.

However, he made no mistake this time around as both he and Lynch put in a strong showing in the draining Paris heat.

After impressing on their way to reaching the final, Doyle and Lynch settled into fifth position as Spain and Romania set the early pace at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Fifth became fourth as the Irish crew tried to close on Romania and the Dutch, who had worked their way into the lead of the race. In the closing metres, the Irish crew pulled away from the USA to clinch bronze.

Doyle and Shorten became the latest rowers from Northern Ireland to win medals in the space of 24 hours after Scott helped Team GB to gold in the women’s quadruple sculls on Wednesday.