Rowan McKellar says women's eight will keep going after bronze in Paris

Great Britain’s women’s eight will kick on after they brought home Olympic bronze from Paris 2024, according to Rowan McKellar.

The 30-year-old rower took bronze alongside Annie Campbell-Orde, Heidi Long, Holly Dunford, Emily Ford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart and Hattie Taylor as Great Britain continued to impress in Vaires-sur-Marne.

And McKellar, who was part of the women’s four that missed out on the podium in Tokyo by a single place, is confident that the team is capable of getting even better in the coming years.

She said: “The way the whole women’s squad has been, you can see it’s a strong squad as a whole. The depth is getting stronger and stronger. I can’t see it not moving up the podium in the next couple of years.

“We’ve got some celebrations planned, we’ll go to Team GB house and have a good time. 100% this is the pinnacle. Worlds with Heidi (Long) was awesome and we had the best time, the last two Worlds. But the pinnacle of the year is the Olympics and I’m over the moon to get a medal.”

Britain’s rowers make up over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support.

McKellar’s victory came on yet another great day for Britain’s rowers, with the men’s eight grabbing gold just 20 minutes after the women’s success.

That completed a spectacular regatta, with eight medals including three golds – a far cry from the two medals and no gold of Tokyo.

Saturday’s medals saw a brother and sister both stand on the podium, Emily and Tom Ford becoming the first brother/sister combination to win a medal for Team GB at the same Olympics since 1908 when archers William and Lottie Dod did so.

And Emily Ford was eager to pay tribute to those who had played a part in getting her to this point.

She said: “I think this medal is more than just us lot standing here and us lot in the boat. It’s the people past and present, our friends and family, all our support network and everyone that plays the National Lottery. So thank you for that. Anyone that's got any ambition, go out there and believe in yourself and do it.”

With more than £30M a week raised for Good Causes, including vital funding into elite and grassroots sport, National Lottery players support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to live their dreams and make the nation proud, as well as providing more opportunities for people to take part in sport. To find out more visit:www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk