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Department of Engineering

Engineering alumni shine at Beijing Olympics

Engineering alumni shine at Beijing Olympics

Tom James

Of the four engineering alumni who represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Beijing, three have returned home with medals.

I think we were about one and a half seconds down on the Australians, but there was no sense of panic. We had this crescendo feeling in the last 500 when we just stepped on and on, and suddenly the Australians were manageable.

Tom James

Tom James has won a Gold as part of the Men's Coxless Fours. Tom along with Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andrew Hodge rallied in the last 250m of the men's coxless four final to overcome rivals Australia. In doing so they took the top podium spot, but the six minutes that it took to secure victory were the product of years of sacrifice.

Tom James
Tom James

Tom said: "I think we were about one and a half seconds down on the Australians, but there was no sense of panic. We had this crescendo feeling in the last 500 when we just stepped on and on, and suddenly the Australians were manageable.

"It was very clinical how we did the last 300-400 metres. To be honest, I'm not quite sure where it came from, but we had a lot more power than I thought we had, even though we had been gunning it for the whole race."

Emma Pooley
Emma Pooley

Emma Pooley has won a Silver medal in Road Cycling in the women's time trials.

Tom Stallard
Tom Stallard

Tom Stallard claimed rowing Silver as part of the Men's Eight.

Andrew Baddeley
Andrew Baddeley

Despite not making the winners' podium, the Department was also proudly represented by Andrew Baddeley who made it to the final of the 1500m.

More details about these alumni can be found in a previous news item here.

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