Great Britain's women finish third to reach final

Great Britain's women have reached the final of the quadruple sculls repechage following a late surge to the finish line.

Melanie Wilson, Beth Rodford, Debbie Flood and Frances Houghton came in third in the semi-final of the race, with Australia and the United States pipping them to the finish.

The Brits' hopes of contending for a medal looked bleak as they dropped to the bottom of the six-crew race at the halfway mark.

Despite a brief struggle, New Zealand gifted the British team a place in fourth towards the closing stages of the race after making a mistake, which they capitalised on and pushed into third place, retaining hopes of clinching a medal.

Team GB claimed silver in Beijing in 2008.