Olympic champion Paul O'Donovan expects to receive the wrath of his mother when he returns to Ireland with his gold medal.
O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy won a thrilling lightweight double sculls final in Tokyo on Thursday to claim their country's first Olympic gold medal since 2012.
The pair became the first male Irish gold medallists since boxer Michael Carruth in 1992 after beating Germany by just 0.86 seconds at the Sea Forest Waterway on Thursday.
But 27-year-old O'Donovan admits that achievement may not be enough to earn the plaudits when he returns home to see his mum.
"I've been ignoring her all the while so she's going to be fairly annoyed, when I get home I'll get a back of the hand across the face I'd say," he told RTE.
O'Donovan also became the first Irish athlete to win Olympic gold and silver medals, having finished second in the double sculls with brother Gary in Rio.
Talking about winning at his sport's biggest event, a jovial O'Donovan added: "I suppose it's fine.
#IRL win their first gold medal of #Tokyo2020! A dramatic race in the lightweight men's double sculls ends in victory for the Irish team. Congratulations!@WorldRowing #Rowing @TeamIreland pic.twitter.com/tssF2Ro3Cw — Olympics (@Olympics) July 29, 2021
"We are just trying to do the best we can and hopefully be the best of the rest of them.
"That's the race plan we had, we do it all the time and it seems to work OK for us. Italy and Germany always go hard, you can count on that, and then slow down a bit.
"Once we were catching up to them we knew we were at a sustainable pace and kept going.
OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS! 🥇 What a morning in Tokyo as Fintan McCarthy & Paul O'Donovan claimed gold to be crowned Olympic champions in a thrilling Lightweight Men's Double final that saw them cross the line in a time of 6:06.43. What a day! 🇮🇪💚🥇🇮🇪💚🥇#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/Gltt8ZcmsR — Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) July 29, 2021
"Winning today and a silver medal last time, I'll be a bit happier about that. The silver medal is nice but Fintan did the right job and we went straight to the top at his first Games."
McCarthy added: "I've been chilled out, usually I'd be a bit more nervous but felt really prepared. The expectation doesn't weigh too heavily on us, we do what we always do – the best we can."
The duo had set a new Olympic best in the semi-final of six minutes and 05.33 seconds but had to fight for gold.
Germans Jonathan Rommelmann and Jason Osborne were 10 lengths clear after 500m but Ireland slowly closed the gap and managed to edge ahead and were a length in front before the finish line.
