Video of the Week: The British Men's Four Take Gold at Eton Dorney–The Lego Version



This week's (slightly delayed) video comes to us from The Guardian (UK), with all the drama and action from the men's coxless four final at Eton Dorney, Lego style. Yes, rowing in the United Kingdom is enough of a mainstream sport that it inspires Lego-based reenactments, especially for their flagship crew. From start to finish, this is startlingly accurate, from the hairstyles, to the uniforms, to the eyewear–the one thing I'm not quite sure about is why Andy Triggs Hodge appears to have a pencil mustache. Outside of that, however, it's right on.

No mustaches detected.
The race was an outstanding battle between Australia and Great Britain–from the bank, it looked like the GB crew's style, while not necessarily as smooth and relaxed as that of the Aussies, translated better to a sprint, and allowed them to simply chuck it all in and race it to the line–the Aussie near-pause at the release, while it is a beautiful, clean style, seemed to hold them back just slightly down the closing stretch.

Something that Kevin Light mentioned in conversation, and which no one seems to be talking about, is that the Australian bow pair were (Will Lockwood and James Chapman) in the coxed pair last year in Bled–quite a transition from the slowest boat class to one of the fastest, and a testament to their tremendous skills as athletes. Congrats to the GB crew, who overcame all the pressure, all the banter, and all the challenges to defend their Olympic title in one of the most exciting races of the regatta. It's a bittersweet ending for the legendary Drew Ginn, who was ever so close to his fourth Olympic gold–but who knows, maybe he'll change his mind again and have another crack at Rio!

-RR

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