Paul O'Donovan (born 19 April 1994) is an Irish lightweight

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

. He is a double Olympic champion in the lightweight double sculls, where he set a world's best time for that event, and a seven-time world champion in single and double sculls. O'Donovan first won a world championship in the men's lightweight single sculls at the

2016 World Rowing Championships The 2016 World Rowing Championships was the 46th edition and held from 21 to 28 August 2016 at the Willem-Alexander Baan in Rotterdam, Netherlands in conjunction with the World Junior Rowing Championships and the World Rowing U23 Championshi ...

. Together with his brother Gary, he won silver in the

Men's lightweight double sculls Lightweight rowing (abbreviated Lwt or Lt) is a category of rowing where limits are placed on the maximum body weight of competitors. According to the International Rowing Federation (FISA), this weight category was introduced "to encourage more u ...

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 in the same discipline 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. ...

. Since 2019, he also partnered with Fintan McCarthy for lightweight double sculls events. The pair became world champions at the

2019 World Rowing Championships The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice (Litoměřice District), Račice in ...

, gold medalists at the

2021 European Rowing Championships The 2021 European Rowing Championships were held from 9 to 11 April 2021 in Varese, Italy. 18 events in rowing and 4 in pararowing. Medal summary Men Women Mixed para-rowing events Medal table References {{European championships in 2021 ...

, gold medalists (and world best time holders) at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and gold medalists again at the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. The latter success made O'Donovan the most successful Irish Olympian, winning medals at three Olympics. At the 2024 Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, he set a national record on the 2000m ergometer and became the third lightweight man to break six-minutes with a time of 5:58.4. In a poll taken in August 2024, during the

, he was voted "Ireland's greatest-ever Olympian". In December 2024, O'Donovan was named RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year 2024.

Early life

O'Donovan was born on 19 April 1994 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 ...

, to Teddy and Trish O'Donovan. Like his elder brother Gary, he attended Lisheen National School and St Fachtna's De La Salle secondary school in Skibbereen. Paul O'Donovan entered UCD in 2012 on an Ad Astra Elite Athlete Scholarship and graduated with a BSc in Physiotherapy from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

in 2017. He went on to

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

where he studied Graduate Entry Medicine, receiving a Quercus Sports' Scholarship and graduating in May 2023 with first class honours. O'Donovan was introduced to rowing in 2001 aged around seven when his father took the two brothers to Skibbereen Rowing Club. His father, himself a rower, coached them in the sport and remained a coach to O'Donovan until 2013. He is the third cousin of Irish Olympic rowing bronze medalist

Emily Hegarty Emily Hegarty (born 3 August 1998) is an Irish rower. She competed in the women's coxless four event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal. At the same Olympics, her third cousin Paul O'Donovan also won a gold medal for rowing in ...

Rowing career

In 2008, the O'Donovan brothers 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

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, Wales, and won gold in the junior quad sculls. Paul O'Donovan also competed in the single sculls; he became the junior single sculls champion of Ireland when he was 15 and was placed fourth in the 2011 World Junior Championships. When he was 19, he won the bronze medal in the men's lightweight sculls at the

World Rowing U23 Championships World Rowing U23 Championships is an international rowing regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is ...

held in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

, Austria.

2016

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 in May 2016, the pair won 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 ...

gold medal 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. The O'Donovan brothers had narrowly qualified for the Rio Olympics by beating Greece at the 2015 World Championship. 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 at the Olympics. Two weeks later, he won the lightweight single sculls final at the

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2017

The brothers finished in the silver position in men's lightweight double sculls at the

2017 European Rowing Championships The 2017 European Rowing Championships were held in Račice (Litoměřice District), Račice, Czech Republic, between 24 and 28 May 2017. Medal summary Men Women (*) Exhibition races Medal table References

{{European championships ...

. They also won silver at the second

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

2017 World Rowing Championships The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida. Host selection During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to host ...

in Florida, Paul O'Donovan won gold at the lightweight men's single sculls. His brother Gary was ill and they did not take part in the lightweight men's double sculls event.

2018

During 2018, the O'Donovan brothers won silver in the lightweight double sculls at the

2018 European Rowing Championships The 2018 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships for European members of the International Rowing Federation (FISA) plus Israel. They were held as part of a new multi-sport European Championships at the Strathclyde Country Park nea ...

in August, and became world champions in the same discipline at the

in September.

2019

O'Donovan was paired with Fintan McCarthy instead of his brother Gary at the

held at

Ottensheim Ottensheim is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. At its rowing venue, Regattastrecke Ottensheim, it has hosted numerous international rowing competitions, including various World Rowing Champ ...

in Austria. The pair won gold in the lightweight double sculls event, which ensured qualification for the Irish team at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo.

2021

O'Donovan raced with McCarthy at the

, where they won gold. The following month they won gold again at the World Rowing Cup II regatta in Lucerne. At the

, held in July 2021, the pair set a world's best time of 6:05:33 while winning their semifinal of the lightweight double sculls event. They went on to win the gold medal, finishing ahead of the German and Italian teams.

2022

After spending some of 2022 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

as part of his medical studies, O'Donovan reunited with McCarthy to claim gold for a 2nd year in a row at the

2022 European Rowing Championships The 2022 European Rowing Championships were held from 11 to 14 August 2022 in Oberschleißheim, near Munich, Germany, as part of the multi-sport 2022 European Championships. The event constituted 19 events in rowing and 4 in pararowing. Medal ...

2023

O'Donovan and McCarthy won their 3rd world title together after winning their title in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

in the

Double Sculls A double scull, also abbreviated as a 2x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are ...

also qualifying for the

Paris 2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

2024

O'Donovan and McCarthy once again represented Ireland at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, claiming their second successive gold medal in the lightweight double sculls and also becoming the only Irish Olympian to medal at three games. Just a few weeks after his Olympic success O'Donovan won gold in the

Single Sculls A single scull (or a scull), abbreviated as a 1x, is a racing shell designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-sec ...

at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

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.James McMahon
'More gold for Paul O'Donovan in single sculls final at World Rowing Championships - while it's bronze for Siobhán McCrohan'
RTÉ Sport, 24 August 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024

References

External links

*
Paul O'Donovan
at

Rowing Ireland Rowing Ireland, formerly the Irish Amateur Rowing Union, is the governing body of rowing for Ireland. It is a cross-border organisation administering the sport in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Rowing Ireland is a member of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonovan, Paul 1994 births Irish male rowers Living people Olympic rowers for Ireland Olympic silver medalists for Ireland People from Skibbereen Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing World Rowing Championships medalists for Ireland Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Ireland Rowers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century Irish sportsmen RTÉ Sports Person of the Year winners