Eleanor Logan of Boothbay Harbor had an historic row Saturday at the Rio Olympics.
The U.S. women’s eight crew won with a stirring comeback, making Logan the first U.S. female rower to win three Olympic gold medals.
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Logan won her first two gold medals in Beijing (2008, with Anna Goodale of Camden rowing one seat behind her in the boat) and London (2012).
She joins Ian Crocker, a swimmer from Portland and Cheverus High, as the only Maine natives to win three gold medals. Crocker won as a member of the men’s 400 medley relay team in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Crocker, who no longer swims competitively, has five Olympic medals overall, including a silver in the 100 butterfly in 2004.
The U.S. was third midway through the 2,000-meter race with Canada in the lead on Saturday, but went ahead a couple of strokes later and methodically pulled away.
By the time the boats reached 1,500 meters, the Americans had a 1.72-second lead. The U.S. finished in 6 minutes, 1.49 seconds – 2.49 seconds ahead of second-place Great Britain, which finished in 6:03.98. Romania was third at 6:04.10.
After the race, Logan told NBC Sports that this was her last race.
“I think I’m done,” she said. “You have to commit 130 percent of yourself every day. I’m not ready to commit anything right now for the foreseeable future.”
If this was it, Logan and the Americans went out in style. They won with the largest margin of victory and best time of any of the last three gold medal winners – in Beijing, the U.S. won by 1.92 seconds with a time of 6:05.34 and in London by 1.07 seconds at 6:10.59 – a sign of the team’s dominance in the sport.
It was the 11th consecutive major international victory for the Americans, the streak beginning with the 2006 world championships.
The U.S. women’s eight has won three Olympic golds – tying Romania for the longest consecutive streak in Olympic history – and 11 world championships in that stretch.
When the race ended, Logan slumped over in exhaustion, then leaned back. Finally she smiled and gave a thumbs-up.
Meghan Musnicki, the only other returner rower from the team that won gold in London, said Logan was the quiet leader of the eights.
“She’s one of the toughest women I’ve had the privilege of training with,” Musnicki said to NBC Sports. “I look up to her. All the other girls look up to her. She leads by example.”
“Their hunger to be the best we could be every single day has really pushed us to a new level that we didn’t think we had,” Logan said Saturday.
“Every day we had to look to be better ourselves.”
Logan, born in Portland, was only 20 and still a student at Stanford when she won her first gold medal.
At the time, she said, “I feel very fortunate. I’m with the best rowers in the world, and I’ve really learned how to row. It’s just amazing.”
She echoed similar statements this year when she was named to the women’s eight, saying, “I’m just happy to get another shot at the eights.” After the London Olympics, Logan tried competing in smaller boats and had some success, especially in the pairs.
But when the teams were announced for Rio, she and Musnicki, her pairs partner, were both on the eights.
Logan was the only rower back from Beijing.
She became involved in rowing as a freshman at the Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts. Her physique – she goes 6-foot-2, 175 pounds – was perfect for rowing and she quickly became one of the best in the nation.
She has said of rowing, “It grabbed my interest and my passion just took over. There’s something about the teammate aspect that connected with me. And you have to commit 100 percent to it, and not just for yourself but for the boat and one another.”
Before she left for Rio, she said she was having a lot of fun with her new teammates.
“I feel like it’s the first time I’m going to the Olympics,” she said. “I feel like a new rower.”
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