Funding shortage forces O’Donovans to use four-year-old boat in Tokyo Olympics bid

Paul and Gary O’Donovan’s bid to win another Olympic rowing medal, in Tokyo in 2020, is being jeopardised by a shortage in funding that has left the Skibbereen pair making do with a four-year old boat.

The O’Donovans became national heroes in 2016 when they claimed silver in the men’s lightweight double sculls in Rio and the sport’s reputation for excellence has been cemented further since, with Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan crowned world champions in the lightweight men’s pair at the World Championships in Florida last year, while Paul O’Donovan defended his lightweight single sculls title.

However, Rowing Ireland chief executive Hamish Adams warned an Oireachtas committee on sport yesterday that the lack of necessary funds is a major worry for their elite athletes, as they seek to book their places in Japan in two years’ time.