Team GB rowing loser lashes out at ‘smug’ former gold medal winners and says ‘I hope they are happy’ as golden run ends

ROWER Matt Rossiter took a swipe at ‘smug’ predecessors, saying ‘I hope they are happy’ after Team GB’s rowers failed to win gold for the first time in 21 years.

Rossiter, Oliver Cook, Rory Gibbs and Sholto Carnegie finished fourth in the men’s coxless four in Tokyo on Wednesday.

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Matt Rossiter hit out at ‘smug’ predecessors as Team GB finished fourth in the men’s four[/caption]

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The British boat had won gold in the five previous Olympic Games, dating back to 2000[/caption]

The Brits were in a strong position heading into the closing stages at the Sea Forest Waterway.

But they lost all their bearings with the steering and almost hit rivals Italy in the next lane before straightening up – still in the wrong lane – to finish fourth amid chaotic scenes.

It meant the Team GB team ended a run of five successive Olympics campaigns claiming gold – dating back to Sydney 2000 with James Cracknell, Steve Redgrave, Tim Foster and Matthew Pinsent in the boat.

The last time Great Britain failed to win the coxless four was at Atalanta 1996, when they took bronze.

And Rossiter took aim at the legends of yesteryear, with 2000 and 2004 champ James Cracknell understood to be the primary subject of his comments.

The 31-year-old said: “It’s just disappointing that those people will probably be really smug now that they are part of the legacy that won.

“That was a motivation to do well. I hope those people are happy we have not continued the gold run.

“It did not affect our performance. We managed to shut out the pressure from everything else really well.

“I’m sure it’s very similar to all sports. You can look back on life with rose-tinted glasses like Roy Keane would rather Manchester United didn’t win the Premier League the year he finished.”

It could have been Cracknell’s questioning whether having four new Olympians for the event was the wisest call that triggered Rossiter’s outburst.

The BBC commentator also suggested the men’s four would have been ‘over the moon’ with a silver medal and blamed the collapse on the absence of influential coach Jurgen Grobler, who retired in the build-up to Tokyo.

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Cracknell also told the British sculls to ‘stamp on the Italians’ heads’.

The men’s quad skulls put the disappointment of their team-mates behind them by claiming silver.

Harry Leask, Angus Groom, Tom Barras and Jack Beaumont came second behind the Dutch team in the last of six finals on Wednesday.

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PA:Press Association

James Cracknell is understood to have angered the current crop of Brits with his comments[/caption]