Men's 8 Misses Medal in Olympic Rowing Finals

The men's eight finished fourth in Wednesday's Olympics rowing finals, just three-tenths of a second behind bronze medal winner Great Britain. Zach Vlahos of Piedmont was coxswain for the U.S. team.

Official photofinish results posted on the U.s. Rowing website show:

1. Germany, 5:48:75 (gold medal)

2. Canada, 5:49:98 (silver)

3. Great Britain, 5:51:18 (bronze)

4. U.S., 5:51:48.

According to a U.S. Rowing press release, "Struggling to recover from a slow start, the U.S. crew of coxswain Zach Vlahos (Piedmont, Calif.), Brett Newlin (Riverton, Wyo.), Jake Cornelius (Brooktondale, N.Y.), Steve Kasprzyk (Cinnaminson, N.J.), Giuseppe Lanzone (Annandale, Va.), Will Miller (Duxbury, Mass.), Grant James (DeKalb, Ill.), Ross James (DeKalb, Ill.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) chased down the field and nearly caught Great Britain at the line.

"But they were three-tenths of a second short and filled with heartache as they rowed into the boathouse.

“'It feels horrible,” was how Lanzone summed it up."

The men's four, incluing Piedmonter Scott Gault, competes in semi-finals Thursday.

For more information, see USRowing's Olympics webpage and the official 2012 Olympics website.

You may see the rowing schedule and information on live streaming of rowing events here.

Don't miss a day of Piedmont news, opinion and events. Sign up for the Piedmont Patch e-newsletter here.