Thornley Loving The Single Life As She Grabs Worlds Silver

Vicky Thornley reckons her silver in the single sculls at the World Championships is on a par with her Olympic medal.

The St Asaph-born rower won silver in the double sculls at the Rio Olympics last year with Katherine Grainger.

Thornley has since switched to the single event and capped an incredible year that had brought European gold and two World Cup medals with silver at the worlds in Sarasota, Florida.

The 29-year-old was only beaten by Jeannie Gmelin of Switzerland with Magdalena Lobnig of Austria taking the bronze.

Thornley said: “I’m really happy with that.

“If you’d have said at the start of the season that I would come away from the Worlds with a silver medal I would have taken it.

“It wasn’t enough today to get one over on the Swiss girl. I closed the gap quite a bit but it just wasn’t enough in the end.

“This is right up there for me and after the Olympics this is my best result. I’m definitely happy after that one.”

Thornley, a graduate of World Class Start programme, reckons the experience of Rio and racing with the five-time Olympian Grainger gave her the confidence to switch to the single event.

“A lot of my confidence has come from Rio and how we executed that race to pull the best out of myself in the final,” added Thornley.

“That was the first time I’ve really done that and a lot of that comes from racing with Katherine, using that experience of Olympic finals.

“That’s helped me a lot this year going from the double into the single. It’s great to have the trust and knowledge that I can deliver on the big stage.

“Sometimes it’s one thing thinking you can and it’s another knowing it.”