One of Britain’s last golden girls in Paris has tearfully revealed how her tragic father gave her a teenage diary in which he vowed to become an Olympic champion – a promise she has now kept.
Lola Anderson was part of Team GB’s women’s quadruple sculls crew and won gold in a dramatic race to the finish with the Netherlands this morning, alongside teammates Hannah Scott, Georgie Brayshaw and Lauren Henry.
Anderson, 26, burst into tears after crossing the finish line just 0.15 seconds ahead of the silver medallists, taking victory in a photo finish.
And then she revealed how much it meant to her – having vowed at the age of 14 that she would one day win Olympic gold after being inspired by London 2012.
She later threw the diary into the trash, thinking it was shameful, only for her father to retrieve it from the trash and later hand it to her when he was on his deathbed.
Lola Anderson (left) broke down in tears as she recounted how her late father kept a diary as a teenager in which she had vowed to become an Olympic champion.
Team GB’s exhausted but triumphant women’s quadruple sculls team took gold today in a dramatic photo finish to finish just ahead of their Dutch rivals.
Great Britain’s first Olympic gold in the women’s quadruple sculls was celebrated today by (left to right) Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson, Lauren Henry and Georgina Brayshaw
Lola Anderson (left, with Hannah Scott by her side) was in tears after crossing the finish line 0.15 seconds ahead of Team Netherlands, who had to settle for silver.
Wiping away tears after today’s win, Lola said: ‘Obviously I’d forgotten about it but a couple of years ago my dad reminded me and I know he would be very, very proud.
“I’m thinking about him a lot right now and it’s wonderful.”
She told the BBC: ‘I’m sorry, it seems like you’ve been working towards this for years.
‘We’re always very process-oriented, always thinking about what comes next, but when you get to the end of a cycle like this, there’s nothing bigger than this.
“It’s really overwhelming just to experience this and I’m really grateful.”
She revealed earlier this month how she had written as a teenager: “I think my biggest dream in life would be to go to the Olympics in rowing and, if possible, win a gold medal for Great Britain.”
Lola recalled: ‘Teenagers don’t necessarily have the most self-confidence and I felt very embarrassed.
“I thought, ‘That was a very arrogant and conceited thing to do to write that.'”
The British team competing at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Centre in Vaires-sur-Marne consisted of (left to right) Georgina Brayshaw, Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott and Lauren Henry.
Lola later told the BBC that she had been thinking about her late father, Don
A photo finish was required to determine the winners, with Team GB crossing the line first.
There was British joy and Dutch devastation when the final result was confirmed.
‘Back then, on a good day, I wouldn’t turn around, I’d just tear out the page and throw it in the trash.’
But she was reunited with him in October 2019, when her father Don asked her to go get his safe deposit box, two months before his death from cancer.
She said: ‘I didn’t understand it, I did what I was told.
‘When I gave it back to him, he gave me back something, which was that page of the diary.
‘Obviously he had been cleaning out my little trash can, saw this diary in the trash can, and decided he was going to give it back to me someday when it meant something, either as a silly joke or something with real meaning.
‘He was a very positive man. That reflects to me how much he cared, invested and believed in me and my brothers, even when we couldn’t see it.
‘There was nothing to prove I had talent when I started rowing, but he kept the note and chose to believe.’
Lola Anderson, pictured in a post on her Instagram page, told how she dreamed of becoming an Olympic champion as a teenager but felt embarrassed by her diary entry.
Lola Anderson (right) was delighted to claim the win, although she cried when interviewed.
The triumphant British team is congratulated by bronze medallists Germany.
Anderson (right) struggled to contain his emotions before paying tribute to his late father.
She told the BBC: “It’s really overwhelming just to experience this and I’m really grateful.”
Lola Anderson, 26, spoke alongside teammate Hannah Scott (right), 25.
The same four who today won gold at the World Rowing Championships in the women’s quadruple sculls last October in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Self-proclaimed “Swiftie” Anderson can now look forward to seeing her favorite singer alongside teammate Scott.
She said before the Olympics: ‘I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan, and Hannah and I are going to see her when we get back from the Games.
“I’m really excited, but I need to get my outfit sorted; we always sing Bejeweled, so something sparkly would be nice.”