Tara Rigney in Olympics heartbreak as Australia sink to 36-year low in rowing events

Singles sculls medal hopeful Tara Rigney has missed out on a podium finish in brutal circumstances with the Australian rowers enduring their worst Olympics in terms of medals in 36 years. Rigney was a strong chance of medalling in the Paris Games after a solid run into the final in the 2km endurance event.

And Rigney looked set to pick up a bronze medal having sat in the third position for the large majority of the 2km race. However, Lithuania's Viktorija Senkute started to gain momentum with 200 metres left. And with only 50 metres in the race, Senkute overtook Rigney and finished 0.53s ahead of the Aussie star.

Rigney would have been just the second female to secure a medal at the single sculls after Kim Brennan. Unfortunately, Rigney fell agonisingly short as Netherlands champion Karolien Florijn held off a late charge from Emma Twigg who came in second.

Rigney's devastation at the Olympics wasn't the only setback for the Aussie rowers on day eight. The women's eight also crossed in fourth. However, this was a huge moment for the women who crossed over for the best ever result by an Australian crew at the event. The Romanian crew defended their Olympic crown in emphatic fashion.

To finish off the rowing events, the Aussie men's eight crew finished in sixth. Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre were the only crew to win an Olympic medal having won bronze in the women's pair two days earlier. Unfortunately for Australia, this marks the worst medal tally for rowing at the Olympics for the nation since 1988.

Josh Hicks withdraws ahead of eight crew final

Unfortunately, the men's eight crew had a setback before the race with a late change. Veteran Josh Hicks ruled out with stomach bug. And Hicks said he had to what was right for the team ahead of the race.

“Throughout the past three years, the past iterations of this eight, there’s been an understanding in the group – a group of probably two dozen people who have been in and out of the eight at any given time – that there will be athletes who win medals, but also a lot of people who are standing behind them; and some of those people are athletes,” Hicks said.

“Doing what’s best for the team, what’s best for a particular crew and the group at large is what’s most important. You can get upset for yourself if you don’t make a particular boat, or a circumstance keeps you out; but that would be a pretty ugly emotion and not really worth indulging in.”