Lucy Spoors (left) and Brooke Francis with their gold medals. Photo: Iain McGregor / www.photosport.nz
New Zealand's newest gold medallists have paid tribute to mothers, saying their win at the Paris Olympics is a win for parents everywhere.
Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis powered home to beat the reigning champions, Romania, and win the women's double scull final on Thursday night. The team from Great Britain took the bronze.
Spoors and Francis both competed at Tokyo 2020, winning silver, but afterwards took time off from the sport to start their families before re-entering the international competition.
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Spoors now has a young son, while Francis has a daughter.
Both toddlers were in Paris to see their mothers take the gold.
An emotional Spoors told Sky Sport that it was a special win for all parents.
"It's no secret that it hasn't been easy [coming back to the international competition]," she said.
"I think about my friends who are mothers, and what they go through every day. Mums are incredible. I have so much more respect for my mum and now, watching what all mums and parents do, it's special."
Francis said there had been a lot of "tough days" as the pair retrained, and they had relied on each other a lot.
The New Zealand rowers cross the finish line ahead of the Romanian pair. Photo: BERTRAND GUAY / AFP
"It's been a long build back. I think of our families, our partners, the whole Rowing New Zealand team. We have had to rely on a lot of people for that extra bit of support when it's felt a goal that was too big.
"I just want to thank everyone at home who has been cheering for us and for the mums."
Francis said their children provided the motivation for the Olympic campaign.
"They have been such a driving force, it's been a pleasure every day."
Spoors told RNZ that the pair had set their sights on a gold medal when they decided to return to the international competition after having their children.
The pair leaned on each other while they retrained. Photo: Photosport
"Rowing is too hard to not have the big dream, and the training was too tough to commit to that without having something that I think was driving us every day."
Until the Olympics, the pair had not won a race since having their children, she said.
However, "there was a lot of underlying belief that we could get there".
Francis said the pair had spotted their children in the stands after the race and gave them a cuddle.
"I think they're looking forward to getting their mums back."
Another new mum was also on the podium - Mathilda Hodgkinson-Byrne, who rows for Great Britain, had only recently returned to the sport after giving birth to her son, Freddie.
Bronze medal feels the same as gold - mother of two rowing medallists
Lucy and Phoebe Spoors' mother, Virginia, told Morning Report she was "supper happy" for both her daughters.
Medal winning rowers' mum celebrates in Paris
Lucy and Brooke Francis claimed a gold medal in the double sculls and soon after sister Phoebe took out the bronze in the women's coxless four.
Virginia is in Paris. She said she and the girls' dad were holding their breath during Lucy's final.
"We jumped up, we were so excited, we jumped up to go down and watch the medal ceremony."
Then they realised Phoebe's race was just about to start and started trying to get back to their seats.
"I don't know if I would normally run as fast as I did."
They ended up watching from the front but "there was a bit of panic for a minute there that we might have been missing some of it but it was ok".
"The way we feel, a bronze medal feels the same as a gold medal, it was a medal, and just to know that they've had the race of their lives and done as good as they could, we were super happy for them," she said of the respective wins.
Virginia moved from Christchurch to Cambridge to help Lucy with her toddler son Rupert.
But she insists they've done what any family would to support their children.
"I don't think you could do it without support of some sort, whether it's family or friends or, I don't know, but we just committed that we would help."
Lucy, her partner Brooke, Rupert and Phoebe all live together with their parents.