Peerless Emily Craig completed a remarkable unbeaten season by cruising to World Championship gold - then admitted she had almost hung up her oars following Olympic heartache last summer.
Pembury’s Craig, 29, and Imogen Grant have been the dominant force in lightweight women’s double sculls racing in 2022 and finished more than three seconds clear of nearest rivals USA to claim victory in Racice and back up their European triumph.
This summer of success has been the perfect way to bounce back from disappointment in Tokyo, where missing out on an Olympic medal by one-hundredth of a second fuelled their desire to take their performances up a notch. “The photo finish from Tokyo is printed off and hanging on my living room wall,” Craig joked. “Imogen’s quote after that race summed it up nicely - ‘you win or you learn’.
We went away and we learned. “I wanted to retire after Tokyo and said if I came back it would have to be completely different.