The United States won its first rowing gold medal in the men’s four class since 1960. Part of that foursome was Unionville High School grad Justin Best. Best, along with Liam Corrigan, Michael Grady, and Nick Mead beat New Zealand and Britain to take the gold.

According to the Associated Press report, the team knew it was time to push hard when Corrigan yelled out “red!”

Best, who graduated from UHS in 2015, is quoted in the AP story as saying “When you make that call, ‘red!,’ you see ‘red,’” Best said. “You put your bow ball out in front, some of the bigger strokes that you take in the race. Liam made that call ‘red!’ and I went with him, and I know Nick went and I could see Grady going because he was right in front of me.

“That was enough to kind of like double that move and take us into our sprint,” he said. “So it was pretty flawless execution on the call. And we trusted each other to all make that move together. And it was effective.”

This was the first time since 1960 that the U.S. won gold in the event. In 2012, the U.S. won the bronze.

[According to nbcolympics.com, a bow ball is the round tip (usually rubber and 4cm in diameter) on the end of the bow. It is required by all boats at Olympic rowing events to minimize damage in the event of a collision.]

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