Central Catholic grad Michael Grady, Team USA win rowing gold medal in Paris Olympics

Matt Press / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Bradford Woods native and Central Catholic grad Michael Grady won a gold medal in Thursday’s Men’s Four rowing final at the Paris Olympics, becoming the first Team USA boat to win the event since 1960.

Grady, along with teammates Nick Mead, Justin Best and Liam Corrigan, led the race from the start and fended off a late surge from New Zealand, finishing with a time of 5 minutes, 49.03 seconds. After the victory, Grady pumped his fists and joyously smacked the water at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

On Sunday, the four advanced to the final with a time of 6:04.95, the top time in Heat 2 but the second-best mark overall behind New Zealand.

Fresh off a gold medal in the World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland, Grady’s boat was in impressive form coming into the Olympics. He told the Post-Gazette last month they were trending in the direction of contending for a gold medal, and that was reaffirmed in Thursday’s race.

All four rowers are returning Olympians, though Grady rowed in the Men’s Four in Tokyo while Mead, Best and Corrigan raced in the Men’s Eight. Grady and the Men’s Four finished fifth in 2021, but he told the Post-Gazette last month they tweaked their training regimens and improved greatly since then.

Grady, who competed in two World Rowing Junior Championships while at Central Catholic under coach Jay Hammond and rowed collegiately at Cornell, wasn’t a stranger to the Olympic stage, but he was to the presence of fans, which were absent from Tokyo due to COVID-19 restrictions.

But Wednesday, with his family on hand, the 27-year-old made history.

“It’s such an honor to represent Pittsburgh, to represent the USA, to represent every walk of life that I’ve been a part of,” Grady said.