Enlarge image This time, everything went according to plan. (© picture alliance / dpa)

Lauritz Schoof sat still, apparently stunned, as his crew members raised their arms together in jubilation after winning the gold in the men’s quadruple sculls competition. Only a few minutes later did the 21-year-old rower seem to understand that he had redeemed himself with this victory after committing a major mistake the previous year. “I had hoped not to show any emotion – to just keep going. Maybe that was the problem last year,” Schoof said. 

Tim Grohmann, lead stroke for the German four, was also in the stern of the boat at the 2011 World Championships, during which Schoof “caught a crab” – rowing terminology for when one’s oar gets caught in the water – allowing the Australians enough cushion to pull out ahead. This time, everything went according to plan with Germany beating Croatia and Australia for gold, the German Rowing Club’s (DRV) second in these Olympics.

“I think that the victory of our eight-man boat gave our boys an added push,” said national coach Hartmut Buschbacher, who had just celebrated the first Olympic victory on Wednesday. 

Enlarge image Karl Schulze (left to right), Philipp Wende, Lauritz Schoof , Tim Grohmann celebrate with their gold medals after winning the men's quadruple sculls finals. (© picture alliance / dpa) “The will was simply there, and it stayed from beginning to end. As the Croatians put on the pressure, we were able to hold them off. That was the turning point,” said Grohmann. He said it was a brilliant start-to-finish win – the German boat broke away right at the beginning and already had a half-boat length lead by the 500-meter mark. 

After the early burst, they held their lead to the end. By the last 500 meters of the race the Croatians were picking up speed and gaining seats, but in the end, two seconds separated their finish with the first place Germans. “We had to bear the pain and pull through,” said Karl Schulze. And the golden boys of the quad scull did so brilliantly.