Gary O'Donovan (born 30 December 1992) is an Irish rower. Together with his brother

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

he won the gold medal in the lightweight double sculls at the

2016 European Rowing Championships The 2016 European Rowing Championships were held in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, between 6 and 8 May 2016. Medal summary Men Women Medal table References External links Official website {{European championships in 2016 Europea ...

, silver in the same discipline at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, and gold at the

2018 World Rowing Championships The 2018 World Rowing Championships were the World Rowing Championships held at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The event was held from 9 to 16 September. Events held were men and women's open class, lightweight class, and para-rowing. ...

. He was the flag bearer for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

during the closing ceremony of the

Early life

Gary O'Donovan was born on 30 December 1992 to Trish and Teddy O'Donovan, and grew up in Lisheen near

Skibbereen Skibbereen (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in West Cork on the N71 national secondary road. The River Ilen runs through the town; it reaches the sea about 12 kilometres away, at the seaside village of Baltimore. Located ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. He attended Lisheen National School, later St Fachtna's De La Salle secondary school in Skibbereen. He also went to study part-time at

Cork Institute of Technology Cork Institute of Technology (CIT; ) was an Institutes of technology in the Republic of Ireland, institute of technology, located in Cork (city), Cork, Ireland. Upon its dissolution, the institute had 17,000 students studying in art, business, ...

in 2011, and graduated with a degree in Marketing in 2016. Gary and his younger brother Paul became involved with rowing in 2001 when he was aged around eight. His father, who was a rower, took the two brothers to Skibbereen Rowing Club where he coached them in the sport. They were selected for the Irish junior team at the

Home International Regatta The Home International Regatta is a rowing regatta held every year for the countries of the British Isles - England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Events are held for both men and women at junior (under 18) and senior levels, including Para-row ...

held in Wales in 2008, and won gold in the junior quad sculls.

Rowing career

In April 2016, Paul and Gary O'Donovan won silver in the lightweight double sculls at the first

World Rowing Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

events of the year in

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

, Italy. In the following month, the pair won the

gold medal in the double sculls in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, Germany. In August 2016 at the Rio Olympics, the O'Donovan brothers won silver behind France in the lightweight double sculls, the first rowing medal won by Ireland in the Olympics. In 2017, the brothers won silver in men's lightweight double sculls at the

European Rowing Championships The European Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organised by World Rowing (named FISA until 2020) for European rowing nations, plus Israel, which, though not a member of the European federation, is treated as a European n ...

in May 2017. They also won silver at the second

regatta of the season in Poland in June, and bronze at the third in July. At the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburg ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, the O'Donovan brothers won silver in the lightweight double sculls, and later became world champions in the same event at the

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:ODonovan, Gary 1992 births Irish male rowers Living people Olympic rowers for Ireland Olympic silver medalists for Ireland People from Skibbereen Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing Alumni of Cork Institute of Technology European Rowing Championships medalists 21st-century Irish sportsmen