Partridge: I'm ready to help Pinsent to fifth gold

Alex Partridge, the fifth man pulling for Great Britain's victorious coxless four, today revealed how he wants to help Matthew Pinsent win a fifth successive gold medal in Beijing.

Partridge, forced to pull out of Pinsent's crew seven weeks ago after suffering a collapsed lung, shouted himself hoarse watching television in London as the British boat edged out Canada in a photo-finish.

Victory made Pinsent only the sixth man in history to strike gold at four successive Games. Now he will spend the next month deciding whether to attempt to equal the five successive gold medals of close friend and former crewmate Sir Steven Redgrave.

"It has to be Matthew's decision, no-one else can make it for him," said Partridge. "But if he goes on I would love to row with him again."

Partridge shed tears of his own as Pinsent broke down during the medal ceremony. "Yes, I cried too," he said. "I didn't want to because I was watching the race on television in a room full of people I didn't know. But that is how much it meant to all of us."

Partridge couldn't offer a physical presence in the boat crewed by Pinsent, James Cracknell, Steve Williams and his substitute Ed Coode, but he was there in spirit.

The 23-year-old from Fulham said: "I was so nervous before the race because there was nothing I could do to affect the result so I just shouted at the TV.

"It was always going to be a tight race but when the Canadians made their move they didn't move away enough. If you want to break an opposing crew you've really got to do it right. They must have thrown everything into that break but because we were in still in contact I just knew that our guys were strong and they would pull through.

"Matthew's years of training made the difference. That, and being the world's biggest engine in a rowing boat. Then we had one of the toughest trainers in the world in James. Stevie is so quiet but he will literally bury himself until he's done the job. And Ed just rowed so well."

Pinsent saluted the contribution made by Partridge when he said: "It would have been easy for Alex to have run away and forget about it, but we talked and texted each other and he was just inspirational.

"James came up with naming the boat Alex Partridge. So when I spoke to him after the race I told him he was first across the line, and it genuinely felt like that."

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