Team GB star Helen Glover narrowly misses out on historic third Olympic gold as women's four suffer agonising defeat by the Netherlands in thrilling final in Paris

It was thrilling and delivered a silver medal for Helen Glover, but the price of missed gold was written all over her aching body.

An hour outside Paris, close to Disneyland, the clock approaching noon, the sun scorching, the flags drooping, the lake was set for one of the most fantastical stories ever written. Aged 38, and a mother of three, Glover was aiming to become the first British female rower to win a third Olympic title.

The facts supported the notion, certainly: the four of Glover, Esme Booth, Sam Redgrave and Rebecca Shorten had not lost all year and started as favourites.

They were never in charge of the race, though, but never out of it either. They took the fight to the Dutch, world champions last season, and were only half a canvas back at the halfway stage. In a brilliant duel, as the line approached, the Dutch were just ahead. That same half-a-darn-canvas — or 0.18 of a second — separated them at the end.

Glover slumped over her oar, and remained disconsolately so for a long period. She was spent, of course, but dejected. Not a wave of delight to see. The two girls in the stern, Redgrave — no relation to Sir Steve — and Shorten dangled their feet into the water. Not a holler to be heard. It was a melancholic scene set against the sylvan trees of the most beautiful rowing lake in the world.

The four composed themselves and rowed their way past the British supporters in the well-populated stands on the way to the podium. Glover’s husband, wildlife TV presenter Steve Backshall, sat in the heat with their children, who have become such a feature of the remarkable Glover story: Logan, six, and four-year-old twins, Kit and Willow.

Big cheers went up. Why not? A silver medal is a wonderful, life-enhancing achievement, not least for the Olympic debutants, Booth, 25, and Redgrave, 29. Shorten, 30, was in Tokyo three years ago but had to settle for fourth place then.

That trio have bright futures in the sport if they want them, whereas Glover’s next move is not so clear.

She retired after winning two golds, at London and Rio, to start a family, then returned at Tokyo with Polly Swann, only to miss out on a medal.

Now that she has this silver, and with age inevitably limiting the length of her participation in a power endurance sport, will she call it quits?

She knocked back the inquiry, talking of just enjoying the moment, before adding: ‘Half the team think I’ll carry on. I don’t plan to, but I guess I was focused on crossing the finish line and then we’ll see.’

One theory is that Glover will take part in a new rowing adaptation coming in for the Los Angeles Games in 2028. It’s called Beach Sprint — a coastal sport which, according to British Rowing, ‘combines running, racing, navigation and power on a field of play where anything can happen’. It is T20 or BMX for rowing.

Glover, who had so wanted to succeed as a rowing mother, said afterwards: ‘You expect tight racing in an Olympic final so you must be proud of coming away with a medal.

‘Both crews thought they could come away with gold. I feel very mixed. I now want to spend time with my family and enjoy being “Mum” and not think about rowing. I need to decompress.’

They say silver is the most agonising medal to win, so we can more easily celebrate two less complicated bronzes. The first amounted to unconfined joy in the women’s double sculls for Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne and Becky Wilde.

The race over, Hodgkins Byrne was told she had beaten Glover by a matter of minutes to the honour of being the first British rower to take to the podium as a mother. She laughed uncontrollably. ‘It never occurred to me,’ she said, genuinely. ‘It’s insane.’

Her little boy, Freddie, has just turned two. He was shouting ‘Mummy’ as he greeted her. ‘Freddie didn’t understand what had happened, but he did know all the people around him were clapping so he joined in,’ she said. ‘He then tried to steal my medal.

‘Being a mother means rowing results, when they go wrong, do not seem like your life’s going to be over. It’s calming to have Freddie.’

Not to be outshone, the Kiwis who won the race are both new mothers. Who isn’t?

The men’s four, Great Britain’s boat of legend, added bronze through Oli Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson. The team’s regatta, with these three medals in an hour to go with gold in the quads on Wednesday, is a distinct upturn on Tokyo. And there should be more bullion to come.