On the penultimate day of rowing at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Croatia held high hopes of winning a second gold at Paris 2024.

The Sinkovic brothers went fastest in the semi-finals, while three years ago at Tokyo 2020 they won gold by more than one second.

However, 2023 world silver medallists Wynne-Griffith and George were arguably the team to beat having gone undefeated at events this season.

The British pair got off to a flier, too, but in their bid to follow in the footsteps of Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matt Pinsent 28 years on, their quest for gold fell agonisingly short, with Wynne-Griffith blaming himself as the Croatian pair battled back to snatch gold in the final few strokes.

“I made a mistake on the line and that’s racing for you,” Wynne-Griffith told BBC. “Olympic silver medallists, I’m so proud of what we did.

“We had a great start and a great first 1500m, just on the last four strokes it was a case of winning or losing unfortunately.”

George added: “We’re incredibly proud and we’re really happy with what we’ve achieved with each other. Doing it with your best mate’s pretty special.

“Despite the last three strokes, with a bit of hindsight we’ll be incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved.”

Rowing men’s pair final, Paris 2024

Gold: Martin Sinkovic and Valent Sinkovic, Croatia

Silver: Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Tom George, Great Britain

Bronze: Roman Roeoesli and Andrin Gulich, Switzerland