Athletes can understandably be overcome with emotion after winning a gold medal — but there’s extra significance for Lola Anderson.
The 26-year-old British rower and her team finished first in Wednesday’s women’s quadruple sculls final, fulfilling a dream she held as a teenager.
After watching the London Games in her home country in 2012, a 14-year-old Anderson was inspired to follow suit.
“My name is Lola Anderson and I think it would be my biggest dream in life to go to the Olympics and represent Team GB in rowing and, if possible, win a gold medal,” she wrote, according to Olympics.com.
Anderson, though, didn’t maintain that faith very well.
“I threw that away because I didn’t believe,” Anderson said. “I was 14 at the time, so why would I believe? Young girls struggle a bit to see themselves as strong, athletic individuals, but that’s changing now.”
That all shifted, however, when Anderson’s dad, Don, located the note before he died of cancer in 2019.
“I’d forgotten about it,” Anderson admitted as she wiped away tears from Paris. “A couple years ago, my dad reminded me. I know that he would be so, so proud. I’m thinking a lot about him right now. It’s really lovely.
“It’s a piece of paper, but it’s the most valuable thing I have,” Anderson continued. “Maybe jointly with this medal now. It’s safe in a tin with all my dad’s old medals in my bedroom.”
Anderson paired with Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott and Georgina Brayshaw to post a pool-best 6:16.31 time, ahead of the Netherlands and Germany.
The victory marked Great Britain’s first medal in women’s quadruple sculls since 2008, and first-ever gold in any women’s rowing event in national history.
In terms of its broader hardware, Great Britain sits fourth with 17 total medals, including six golds.