Paul O'Donovan
O'Donovan at the 2016 European Rowing Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Irish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 April 1994 Lisheen, County Cork, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Lightweight double sculls Lightweight single sculls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic finals | Gold medal (Lightweight double sculls, Tokyo 2020) Gold Medal (Lightweight double sculls, Paris 2024) Silver medal (Lightweight double sculls, Rio de Janeiro 2016) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Paul O'Donovan (born 19 April 1994) is an Irish lightweight rower. He is a double Olympic champion in the lightweight double sculls, where he set a world's best time for that event, and a seven-time world champion in single and double sculls.
O'Donovan first won a world championship in the men's lightweight single sculls at the 2016 World Rowing Championships. Together with his brother Gary, he won silver in the Men's lightweight double sculls at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and gold in the same discipline at the 2018 World Rowing Championships. Since 2019, he also partnered with Fintan McCarthy for lightweight double sculls events. The pair became world champions at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, gold medalists at the 2021 European Rowing Championships, gold medalists (and world best time holders) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and gold medalists again at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The latter success made O'Donovan the most successful Irish Olympian, winning medals at three Olympics.
At the 2024 Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, he set a national record on the 2000m ergometer and became the third lightweight man to break six-minutes with a time of 5:58.4.
In a poll taken in August 2024, during the 2024 Paris Olympics, he was voted "Ireland's greatest-ever Olympian".
In December 2024, O'Donovan was named RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year 2024.