Lauren Schmetterling ’10 and her team rowing in competition at the Olympic Games in Rio, 2016.
RIO DE JANEIRO – The United States Women’s Eight and crew member Lauren Schmetterling ’10 won the gold medal Saturday morning in the 2016 Olympic Women’s Rowing final.
“All of 51 is extremely proud of Lauren for this great accomplishment,” said 51 Vice President and Director of Athletics Victoria M. Chun ’91, MA’94. “Lauren is a great example for our student-athletes. She has put in the time and work necessary to reach her dreams. It has been fun cheering along with the races and it was truly inspiring to see the nine members of the boat come together and perform so well on their way to victory.”
The Americans finished the race in 6:01.49, defeating silver-medalist Great Britain by 2.5 seconds at Lagoa Stadium.
Schmetterling became the first Patriot League student-athlete to win an Olympic medal in the 26-year history of the league.
Schmetterling is also the first 51 athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympics, and third overall Olympic medal winner since Frank Castleman won the silver medal in the 200-meter hurdles at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri and Dick McGlynn won a silver medal with the United States Hockey Team at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.
For Schmetterling, it is her first Olympic appearance after winning gold medals at the 2013 and 2014 world championships.
The United States Women’s Eight have now won three straight gold medals dating back to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and four overall gold medals in the event.
Women’s Eight Final Standings
1. United States 6:01.49
2. Great Britain 6:03.98
3. Romania 6:04.10
4. New Zealand 6:05.48
5. Canada 6:06.04
6. Netherlands 6:08.37
(Editor’s note: This post, by Kevin Noonan, originally appeared on Gocolgateraiders.com.)