Fintan McCarthy facts for kids
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| Nationality | Irish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 November 1996 Cork, Ireland |
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| Height | 1.77 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Lightweight double sculls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Fintan McCarthy (born 23 November 1996) is an amazing Irish rower. He is known for being a national champion, a world champion, and a double Olympic gold medalist! He rows in a special type of boat called a lightweight double scull. This means he and his partner are in a certain weight class, and each rower uses two oars.
Fintan won his first world championship title with his rowing partner, Paul O'Donovan, at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. They also won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where they set a new world record time! He also earned a bronze medal in a different event, the lightweight single sculls, at the 2020 European Rowing Championships.
Fintan's Rowing Journey
Fintan McCarthy grew up in Skibbereen, a town in County Cork, Ireland. He first tried rowing when he was in primary school. However, he only started taking the sport seriously when he was 15 years old. This was after he watched the exciting London Olympics in 2012.
He later went to University College Cork. There, he studied physiology, which is the science of how living things work.
Early Wins and Partnerships
In 2016, Fintan won his very first national title in rowing. He achieved this big win with his brother, Jake. The two brothers even made it to the final of the 2019 European Rowing Championships in 2019.
A big moment in Fintan's career came in 2019. He teamed up with Paul O'Donovan for the men's lightweight double sculls event. They competed at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Austria. Together, they won the gold medal and became world champions! The next year, in 2020, Fintan won a bronze medal. This was in the men's lightweight single sculls at the 2020 European Rowing Championships in Poland.
Olympic Gold and World Records
Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan continued their winning streak. They won gold at the 2021 European Rowing Championships. The very next month, they won gold again at a big rowing competition in Switzerland.
The highlight of their journey came at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which took place in July 2021. In the lightweight double sculls event, Fintan and Paul set an amazing new world record time of 6 minutes and 5.33 seconds during their semifinal race. They then went on to win the gold medal, beating teams from Germany and Italy.
Fintan and Paul showed their incredible skill again at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. They won their second gold medal in a row in the lightweight double sculls event. This made them double Olympic champions!
