Paris 2024: Team Ireland rowers Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney will ‘keep pushing’ after Olympic debut

While finding it hard to mask their disappointment, Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney said they will learn from an impressive Olympic debut after finishing sixth (6:30.49) in Friday’s men’s pair final in Paris.

The Team Ireland rowers impressed in their semi-final but were unable to force their way on to the podium in a final won by Croatia.

But Corrigan (25) and Timoney (24) have time on their side and that was not lost on the Enniskillen pair as they prepare to target a second Olympic appearance at Los Angeles in 2028.

“We weren’t able to replicate the semi-finals. We’ve had unwavering belief in this competition and we won’t let it go right now,” said Timoney.

“We’re both quite young and we’ll carry it over into the next cycle and we won’t give up but it’s a tough pill to swallow but we won’t dwell on it either. We’ll take a few lessons from it. Today wasn’t the day but it won’t be the last day.”

“It’s no small feat to make an Olympic final,” said Corrigan.

“If we talked to ourselves a few months ago, between injury and illness, we would have been happy to make a final.

“We hold ourselves to a high standard, the whole team does. We’re at a point with Irish rowing that we do hold ourselves to high standards and we’re not happy if we don’t get medals, but at the same time there are positives from this.

“It’s a life lesson. We’ll keep pushing, we’re not satisfied but it’ll pay off down the line. We’re not finished, that’s the main thing.”