It was gold for Great Britain and a big reason for a Chester school to celebrate in the Paris Olympics.

Former King's School Chester pupil Harry Brightmore, already a two-time rowing world champion, was seen standing up and celebrating wildly at the finish as Team GB struck gold in the men's eight.

Britain and the Netherlands were locked in a brutal battle during the opening half of the race.

Britain, with Brightmore in the coxswain spot, pushed hard to establish a crucial advantage they kept to win in five minutes 22.88 seconds, 1.04secs ahead of the Dutch and 2.40secs clear of the United States in third.

The collective effort was such that team-mates Morgan Bolding and Rory Gibbs were carried away suffering from exhaustion.

Afterwards, the team revealed their golden charge at Paris 2024 was inspired by videos from Team GB’s Olympic-winning crew at Sydney 24 years ago.

Coach Steve Trapmore was a member of that victorious squad in 2000, and gathered the current squad together this week to watch videos from his former teammates.

“As they were sending us the videos they might have felt a bit awkward and not really sure if it would mean much to us,” said Plymouth’s Jacob Dawson, who won bronze in the men’s eight at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics before suffering a life-threatening blood clot on his lungs two years later.

“But it really did kick us into gear and brought another level in the last few days coming into the final.

“They told us how to be fierce and don’t give an inch. They said you can be a gentlemen after the race, the 2k is not the time to be a good sportsman.”

The King's School, where Harry was a pupil until 2012, reacted with a post on social media: "It was an incredible race that had us on the edge of our seats and ended in Olympic gold for Harry Brightmore and the men’s VIII.

"Amazing scenes in Paris and a very proud school community back in Chester."

Harry has remembered his local roots, sporting his old King's hat during GB training and naming his dog Chester.

Speaking before Harry clinched Olympic glory, King's School director of rowing David Blackham said of the 30-year-old: "His journey from The King's Boat House to the world stage is not just a personal triumph but also serves as a beacon of inspiration for aspiring rowers and young athletes everywhere."