A golden weekend for GB’s rowers at European Championships

Todmorden rower Leyden, 27, joined forces with Lucy Glover, Lola Anderson and Georgie Brayshaw to beat the Netherlands in Munich on a super weekend for British Rowing.

Their gold medal marked one of four won by Britain on Saturday – including three in a row – as the women’s quadruple scullers’ dominant display built further momentum ahead of next month’s World Championships in Racice.

The British crew revelled in their German victory but admit emulating their exploits in the Czech Republic remains their No 1 priority.

Leyden said: “We’ve worked so hard for this. We’ve changed what we wanted to change and it’s really paying off now. Looking back on the field was really nice.”

Brayshaw, 29, added: “It’s amazing and I’m absolutely buzzing – I want to cry.

“But this makes me so hungry for the World Championships in September.

“I actually can’t wait and now, I’m so hungry for it. I’m so happy and it’s so surreal to win today.”

Britain’s rowers finished top of the medal table after enjoying further success in yesterday’s final day of competition in Munich.

Having claimed four gold medals, two silvers and a bronze at Oberschleissheim on Saturday, Britain picked up two more golds and a silver on Sunday to take their overall tally to 10.

For the second edition in 2022, the multi-sports European Championships bring together the existing championships of the continent’s leading sports into one event that elevates the champions of Europe.

Rowing kicked off the 11-day German bonanza on Thursday morning, with cycling, gymnastics and sport climbing also featuring.

Athletics gets underway at Munich’s iconic Olympic Stadium on Monday while triathlon, canoe sprint, table tennis and beach volleyball enter the fray across staggered days.

Exactly 177 gold medals are on offer at the event and Leyden was thrilled to get her hands on one after a dominant German display.

Britain breezed past Switzerland in Thursday’s heats as a time of 7:09.73 marked them out as the team to beat the Saturday’s final.

And they delivered when the pressure was on to down the Dutch, Ukrainians, Swiss, Italians and Germans to be crowned champions of Europe in style.

Britain also grabbed golds in the men’s and women’s four and men’s eight events on a memorable day at Munich’s 1972 Olympic Regatta Centre.

Anderson added: “We’ve had quite a disruptive season – we’ve had different combinations but we’ve just tried to keep it simple and get as much out of it as possible.”

On Sunday, Frankie Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Ed Fuller and Ollie Stanhope were winners in the PR3 mixed coxed four, winning by almost 20 seconds from France, with Germany in third.

It was an emotional win for cox Erin Kennedy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer three months ago and has undergone two rounds of chemotherapy since being named in the squad.

“I’m just really proud of the team,” Kennedy said. “It’s a lot for me to take, but it’s also a lot for them. They’ve picked me up every time.”

Following the PR3 victory, Imogen Grant and Emily Craig won lightweight women’s doubles sculls gold, while the women’s eight - six of whom had already won medals in Munich - took silver after being passed by Romania in the final 500m.

The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the Germany city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website