Bronze medal is worth gold to me says Preston rowing ace Graeme Thomas

The Preston rower, 33, bagged single sculls bronze in Racice on Sunday after crossing the line behind decorated duo Oliver Zeidler and Melvin Twellaar.

Thomas’ usual terrain is part of the quadruple or double sculls crews but he took a bold leap into the unknown in the Czech Republic to fly solo for the first time in a decade.

The former rugby star battled to fifth at last month’s European Championships in Munich and admits hauling himself onto the podium at world level exceeded his wildest expectations.

Thomas said: “I’m physically spent and to be honest, pretty emotionally spent as well.

“People say single sculling is a lonely game, and it can be at times, but I’ve had every coach who’s ever coached me, and every sculler I’ve ever rowed with, in my mind out there.

“A bronze for me in this event is like a gold – I don’t feel like I’m some big superhero athlete, and it took everything I had to get that.

“It’s been a dream for a long time to be able to win a medal in the single – it’s the ultimate boat class.

"You ask anyone which class they want to win a gold medal in, it’s the single. It’s 100 per cent you, it’s all on you. It’s definitely a career highlight – there’s no hiding place out there and that was everything I had to offer today.

“It was a highly, highly decorated field and I’m on the podium – I’m absolutely buzzing with that.” Thomas has enjoyed a rock-solid international career in the quad since scooping both world and European silver in Belgrade and Amsterdam in 2014.

His single sculls bronze on Sunday marked his fourth World Championship medal after narrowly missing out on an Olympic gong in Tokyo alongside John Collins in the double last summer.

Thomas and Collins, 33, also banked bronze at last year’s European Championships in Varese, Italy, before the Lancashire ace opted for a crack at the single sculls this season ahead of a jam-packed summer of rowing.

British Rowing is responsible for the development of rowing in England and the training and selection of rowers to represent Great Britain. The GB Rowing Team is supported by the National Lottery Sports Fund. To find out more, and to follow the ongoing World Championships in Racice, head to https://www.britishrowing.org/