Paul O'Donovan

Paul O'Donovan
O'Donovan at the 2016 European Rowing Championships
Personal information
NationalityIrish
Born (1994-04-19) 19 April 1994 (age 30)
Lisheen, County Cork, Ireland
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
CountryIreland
SportRowing
Event(s)Lightweight double sculls
Lightweight single sculls
Coached by
  • Teddy O'Donovan
  • Dominic Casey
Achievements and titles
Olympic finalsGold medal (Lightweight double sculls, Tokyo 2020)
Gold Medal (Lightweight double sculls, Paris 2024)
Silver medal (Lightweight double sculls, Rio de Janeiro 2016)[1]
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Ireland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Lwt double sculls
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris Lwt double sculls
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Lwt double sculls
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rotterdam Lwt single sculls
Gold medal – first place 2017 Sarasota Lwt single sculls
Gold medal – first place 2018 Plovdiv Lwt double sculls
Gold medal – first place 2019 Ottensheim Lwt double sculls
Gold medal – first place 2022 Račice Lwt double sculls
Gold medal – first place 2023 Belgrade Lwt double sculls
Gold medal – first place 2024 St. Catharines Lwt single sculls
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016
Brandenburg an der Havel		 Lwt double sculls
Gold medal – first place 2021 Varese Lwt double sculls
Gold medal – first place 2022 Oberschleißheim Lwt double sculls
Silver medal – second place 2017 Račice Lwt double sculls
Silver medal – second place 2018 Glasgow Lwt double sculls
World U23 Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Ottensheim Lwt single sculls

Paul O'Donovan (born 19 April 1994) is an Irish lightweight rower. He is a double Olympic champion in the lightweight double sculls where he set a new world's best time for that event and is a seven-time world champion in single and double sculls.[2][3]

O'Donovan first won a world championship in the men's lightweight single sculls at the 2016 World Rowing Championships.[4] Together with his brother Gary, he won silver in the Men's lightweight double sculls at the 2016 Summer Olympics,[5][6] and gold in the same discipline at the 2018 World Rowing Championships.[7] Since 2019, he also partnered with Fintan McCarthy for lightweight double sculls events, and the pair became world champions at the 2019 World Rowing Championships,[8] gold medalists at the 2021 European Rowing Championships,[9] gold medalists (and world record holders) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics[10] and gold medalists again at the 2024 Paris Olympics, making Paul 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.[11][12]

In a poll taken in August 2024, during the 2024 Paris Olympics, he was voted "Ireland's greatest-ever Olympian".[13]

  1. ^ "Rio 2016". Rio Olympics. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. ^ Gorman, Liam (27 July 2014). "Paul O'Donovan misses out on bronze at World Under-23 Rowing Championships". Irish Times.
  3. ^ "Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy row into history with another Olympic gold". RTE. 2 August 2024.
  4. ^ "'Put an extension on Skibbereen' - World champion Paul O'Donovan planning an epic homecoming". Irish Independent. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Rio 2016: Gary and Paul O'Donovan win Ireland's first ever Olympic rowing medal". BBC Sport. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  6. ^ "O'Donovan brothers: These Irish rowers are giving the best interviews at the Olympics". Daily Telegraph. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  7. ^ "It's gold for the O'Donovan brothers in Bulgaria". RTÉ Sport. 15 September 2018.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference irish time 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference rte2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2021gold was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Skibbereen rower Paul O'Donovan joins elite group after setting sensational Irish indoor record". The Southern Star. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  12. ^ Waters, Emma. "Irish Indoor Rowing Championships 2024 – Rowing Ireland". Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Rower Paul O'Donovan voted Ireland's greatest-ever Olympian in poll". independent.ie. 4 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.