The United States women’s four with Mac alum Kate Knifton in the stroke seat, placed fifth in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 Women’s Four finals this morning at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Starting in lane six adjacent to the three teams that the NBC Olympic announcers identified as the favorites in the race (Romania in lane 5, the Netherlands in lane 4 and Great Britain in lane 3), Team USA started off the the line well but was behind the leaders by the 500-meter mark. By the final the 500 meters, the Americans had made up a lot of ground and pulled ahead of China, but they finished in fifth place at 6:34.88 behind medalists the Netherlands (gold in 6:27.13), Great Britain (silver in 6:27.31), New Zealand (bronze in 6:29.08) and fourth-place Romania (6:29.52). China was sixth in 6:36.18.
“I was really proud of how we executed,” Knifton said in a story posted to the USRowing website. “I think we had a really clear goal of how we wanted the piece to go. We’re all emotional because we really felt like we gave it our all, and of course, everyone wanted to do well for each other, even more than for ourselves, and I think we really executed it the best we could have on the day.”
While the team did not medal this morning, there were many positives from their team’s Olympic experience.
For one thing, the U.S. team advanced to the finals. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the U.S. women’s four placed seventh and did not row in the A Final.
Another positive sign came from the men’s result in the same event where Team USA captured gold. The men’s four finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics. The team’s last medal (bronze) came at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
In their post-race comments, U.S. rowers Liam Corrigan and Justin Best both cited the team’s experience working together as a key factor in their victory.
The U.S. women’s four by comparison is young and has not raced together as a team for nearly as long.
During the broadcast on E!, NBC analysts Paul Burmeister and Lindsey Shoop both commented on the women’s four team’s relative youth and inexperience.
Burmeister even quoted USRowing High Performance Director Josy Verdonkschot as saying, “They are young and wild. They don’t think too hard and that’s a good thing.”
All four rowers were making their Olympic debuts. Knifton was the youngest rower in the boat at 24.
It seems that the 2024 Olympics could very well be a stepping stone to a future Olympics should Knifton wish to pursue it.
In the meantime, her mom, Kristin Koenig Brewer, said she will enjoy the rest of her 2024 Olympic experience with the race pressure behind her.
“It’s time for Kate to relax, enjoy the rest of the Olympics and celebrate.”
Knifton will attend the closing ceremonies and plans to do some traveling with her sister Sophie (Class of 2020).
Her mom also expressed how proud she is of “our Olympian.”
All of us at MacJ have to say we like the sound of that pronoun. We also want to convey how proud and how grateful we are to be able to root for a McCallum Knight who represented her family, her high school, her university and her country so admirably in her Olympic debut.
We might remind everyone as an aside that her Class of 2018 peers did vote that she was Most Likely to Make the Olympics, so Mac Nation knew even back then how special Kate is.
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She can add her 2024 Olympic experience to an already singularly legendary rowing resume which—according to the US Rowing Olympic press kit—includes, but is not limited to, these accomplishments: world champion in the women’s four at the 2022 World Rowing Under 23 Championships; back-to-back NCAA champion in the women’s varsity eight at the University of Texas in 2021 and 2022; three-time Big 12 Conference champion in the women’s varsity eight (2019, 2021, 2022); 2023 Big 12 Athlete of the Year and 2023 Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year; and USRowing 2022 Under 23 Female Athlete of the Year as well as being a 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.
Not bad for someone who started rowing as a sophomore in high school because her dad urged her to give it a try.
COOL FACT: Did you know that women’s four has only been an Olympic event at three games: 2024 in Paris, 2020 in Tokyo and 1992 in Barcelona? Today’s fifth-place finish was the second best U.S. finish at the Olympics in women’s four ever. On Aug. 1, 1992, 32 years ago today, the U.S. women enjoyed their best ever finish in women’s four: a silver medal. The rowers for Team USA that day were Shelagh Donohoe, Cynthia Eckert, Carol Feeney and Amy Fuller, and like the 2024 women’s four team, the 1992 version failed to qualify in the preliminary heats and made the final by winning the repechage to qualify for the final along with second-place Australia.
