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'Never seen that': Fans stunned by chaos in Aussie golden moment

Oliver Cook, Matthew Rossiter, Rory Gibbs and Sholto Carnegie (pictured right) devastated after they veered off course in a horror end to the Men's Four final.
Oliver Cook, Matthew Rossiter, Rory Gibbs and Sholto Carnegie (pictured right) veered off course in a horror end to the Men's Four final for Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics.(Images: Twitter/Getty Images)

Fans watched on in disbelief during Australia's gold in the coxless four rowing when team Great Britain lost control and veered towards their rivals in the final.

The men's team of Alexander Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves and Alexander Hill handed Australia their second gold in a matter of minutes on the water after the women's four won earlier.

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But during the final moments of the men's race, commentators watched on in disbelief as the Great Britain four veered uncontrollably towards the Italians.

Great Britain were on track to contend for silver before they jerked towards the outer lane.

However, the GB four didn't appear to react quick enough as they continued to edge towards the Italians as they pushed for a medal.

But, after slowing down and gaining control, Great Britain cruised over the line and out of a medal spot.

Commentator Gillian Lindsay was in disbelief when watching the GB team.

“I don’t know what to say,” Lindsay said on Eurosport.

“Completely, they (Australia) were awesome. They were fearless, they knew how tough the race was going to be and who to look out for.

"But my goodness, Great Britain, some serious questions will be asked.

“What on earth happened in the last 200m? Well actually, the last 15 strokes. I mean, what is going on?

"Has the steering gone all together, is it equipment failure, is the bow pulling the boat round?

“This is the sort of thing you’d see at a local regatta, not the Olympic games in the final with a medal at stake."

Fans were equally perplexed in what they had seen.

"I'm responsible for the steering. I screwed up," an emotional Cook said following the race.

"I forgot the steering a little bit and that cost us a medal. To the lads, I'm sorry I didn't steer us the best line at the end."

Aussies snare two rowing gold in historic day

The women's team of Lucy Stephan, Rosemary Popa, Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre claimed gold on Wednesday morning.

The men's team then made it double delight in their race.

The women's team qualified fastest for the final with an Olympic record.

And they backed up their performance in the final in an incredible finish to hold off the Netherlands.

The Australians surged out to a big lead early in the race and were forced to hold on for dear life as the Dutch team made a late surge.

The event returned to the Olympic rowing schedule after almost a 30-year absence, with the Aussies staking a claim as the new 'Oarsome Foursome'.

The Australians held off the Netherlands crew for silver, while Ireland won bronze.

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