TEAM GB STAR BECOMES FIRST PERSON TO WIN MEDAL IN BOTH MALE AND FEMALE OLYMPIC EVENTS

Team GB star Henry Fieldman has made Olympic history by becoming the first person to win medals in both men and women's events.

Fieldman claimed his second bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics as Team GB rowed to third place in the women's eight. He was able to add to the bronze he already picked up in the men's eight at Tokyo 2020 three years ago.

The 36-year-old achieved the unprecedented feat thanks to his unique role as a coxswain. Coxswains in rowing are permitted to participate with rowers of the opposite gender following a rule change in 2017.

Their job requires them to take the lead in guiding their boat - sitting at the stern, steering, calling the stroke and generally implementing the strategy of races.

Team GB recorded a time of 5:59.51 in the final, securing a spot behind silver medallists Canada and the champions, Romania. Fieldman expressed afterwards that he hopes it is just the beginning of the women’s eight team’s success on the global stage.

"I hope that now that we've had two Olympic medals in the women's eight that this could be the start of more women's eights medals to come - stepping on to greater things," he said.

Rowers Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Holly Dunford, Emily Ford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Harriet Taylor, and Annie Campbell-Orde, alongside Fieldman, powered through to earn a deserved medal.

Meanwhile, the Team GB men's eight rowing team clinched gold, edging out the Netherlands with a powerful surge in the third quarter of the 2,000m race. They crossed the finish line with a time of 5:22.8, clinching a narrow 1.08 second lead.

Fieldman’s triumph in both the male and female categories comes amid a fierce row over two athletes' participation in the Olympics. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who was born female and does not identify as a male, has been mistakenly labelled as transgender by high-profile individuals, including J.K. Rowling and Donald Trump.

Follow all the action on day 8 of the Paris Olympics with Mirror Sport's live blog

The controversy emerged after Khelif's victory over Italian boxer Angela Carini, who withdrew from their fight within 46 seconds and refused to shake hands with her opponent. Carini was overheard protesting "it's not right," before adding: "I've never been hit with such a powerful punch."

Khelif was disqualified last year from the women's World Championships in New Delhi due to a failed gender eligibility test, the details of which have not been disclosed. The now-banned Russia-led International Boxing Association (IBA), responsible for carrying out the alleged tests, claimed Khelif "failed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women's competition."

The International Olympics Committee this week tackled the controversy surrounding IBA's testing, stating: "This is not a transgender issue. These women have been competing in competitions for many years. The testosterone is not a perfect test. Many women can have elevated levels of testosterone, which is in what would be called 'male levels' and still be women and still compete as women."

2024-08-03T14:58:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd