Hoopman Strikes Gold in Olympic Men's Eight
August 22, 2004 | Men's Rowing
Former Badger rower Beau Hoopman helped the United States to its first gold medal in the Olympic men 's eight in 40 years on Sunday. The race took place at Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre.
To view photos of the race, visit www.nbc.com .
Hoopman, a 2003 Wisconsin graduate, sat seven seat for the victorious Americans. The boat began its Olympics last Sunday by using a strong finish and winning its preliminary heat in a world-record time of 5:19.85 over 2,000 meters. That victory put the Americans directly into today's final.
Today, the men's eight left off where it finished last week, jumping out to a lead from the start of the final. The boat went up on the field by over three seconds and open water by 1,000 meters. The field cut into the large lead over the third 500 meters to get within a boat's length, but Hoopman and the U.S. held off a hard-charging crew from the Netherlands to win by nearly four seats at the finish. Into a headwind, the U.S. clocked a 5:42.48.
Hoopman, a Plymouth, Wis., native, becomes the first Badger rower to medal in an Olympics since Eric Mueller earned a silver medal in the men's quadruple sculls at the 1996 games in Atlanta.
Wisconsin's second men's rower at the Olympics, Matt Smith, wrapped up his games with the B final in the men's lightweight four on Saturday. Smith and his fellow Americans took third in the race to place ninth, overall. Denmark won the gold in the final, with Australia winning silver and Italy taking bronze.
