Paris 2024: Olympic champion Hannah Scott’s life is about to change forever

Hannah Scott embodies all the qualities required to win an Olympic medal: resilience, determination, strength of mind and body and sheer willpower to see the race through to the end.

In an Olympic final that must be considered a classic of the genre, the Team GB quad sculls crew of Scott, Georgie Brayshaw, Lola Anderson and Lauren Henry never led the Netherlands until the final stroke of the race.

The gap of fifteen-hundredths of a second will change Scott’s life forever.

She is now, and always will be, an Olympic champion.

Rather like a young Mary Peters, 52 years ago, Scott has no idea how her life might change but as Northern Ireland’s first female gold medallist since Lady Mary, there couldn’t be a better ambassador for sport.

As a 12-year-old, Scott was inspired to become an Olympian by the medal exploits of fellow Bann Rowing Club rowers Alan Campbell and Richard and Peter Chambers after the London Games in 2012.

Twelve years later, Scott has become the inspiration for others.

“All of us had that dream as 12-year-olds and watching Alan and Richard and Peter coming away with silvers and bronzes was really inspiring for me,” explained Scott.

“For me I still can’t believe this is happening but what I would say to anyone is trust yourself and have that self-belief. That was instilled in me at a young age.

“We all had that belief and that was the biggest factor is getting down the course today and winning.”

It was Richard Chambers who told this reporter after the Rio Olympics to watch out for this young girl from Coleraine called Hannah Scott. He said she was the “real deal”.