‘The lads are just 22 and 23 — that’s two more Olympics’

In the weeks and months leading up to their historic win yesterday, Paul and Gary O’Donovan would sit on a couch on either side of their grandmother Mary Doab, their laptops in front of them, showing her footage of their training from earlier that day.

They would ask her whether they looked better than the day before, about their timing, their positioning.

“I hadn’t a clue. I would just tell them they were great,” said Mary yesterday as she continued to take in the fact that her grandsons, who lived with her in the build-up to the Games due to her Ballincollig home’s proximity to Inniscarra lake, are now Olympic silver medallists.