PARIS — Michael Grady '19, one of two Cornell rowing alums participating at this year's 2024 Olympic Games, aided the United States' men's four crew to a wire-to-wire victory in the last of two heats on Sunday morning at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

With the first-place victory, the top-ranked Americans (6:04.95) earned a bid straight to Thursday's men's four 'A' Final along with Australia, the reigning Olympic champions, which placed second behind the U.S. by 1.89 seconds with its 6:06.84 time.

In the opening heat, New Zealand (6:03.08) clocked the fastest time among the nine crews in the pair of heats, while Great Britain (6:05.63) finished in second to also clinch their spot in Thursday's 'A' Final.

The U.S. quartet composed of Liam Corrigan at stroke, Grady in the No. 3 seat, Justin Best in the No. 2, and Nick Mead at the bow, are coming up on one full year rowing together competitively, as the group earned a silver medal at the World Rowing Championships last September in Belgrade, Serbia, before winning gold at the World Rowing Cup II race in May in Lucerne, Switzerland.

"It felt solid," Best said. "It was exciting. We've been building up a lot of excitement to get out there and race again. We had a lot of good momentum coming from World Cup II, and we all kind of knew, 'Let's get back to the work. There's still the Olympics to get ready for.' I think over the last few weeks we were at a training camp in Italy, and we were really excited to let it rip (down) the course. Coming through the last 250 (meters), that was incredible hearing all the audience. That was a first time for me to hear something that loud doing the sport I love."

"One unique thing about this lineup and this crew is we've been together so long relative to other American crews in the past," added Mead. "We have a ton of confidence in each other. We've been rowing together for about a year and training together for five or six years, so it's a huge advantage when we come to these races knowing I don't have to worry about what the guys in front of me are going to do. I know that they are going to execute the plan like we've talked about and that brings a relaxation and freedom to the race that in the past we've not had."

The Americans opened the first 500 meters with a time of 1:30.19, just shy of a full second ahead of Australia (1:31.05) and 1.79 seconds over Switzerland. Continuing off its impressive start, the U.S. crew posted split times of 1:33.09 and 1:31.86 across the middle 1000 meters, generating an open water lead over Australia.

Despite registering its fastest 500-meter portion of the race in the final quadrant (1:29.81), the U.S. had the third-fastest time among the four crews in the final 500 meters, as France jumped ahead of Switzerland for third place behind its 1:27.43 time. Australia had the second-fastest time with a 1:29.35.

MEN'S FOUR — HEAT TWO RESULTS
1. United States (Nicholas Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady, Liam Corrigan) — 6:04.95
2. Australia (Tim Masters, Jack Robertson, Fergus Hamilton, Alexander Hill) — 6:06.84
3. France (Thibaud Turlan, Guillaume Turlan, Benoit Brunet, Teo Rayet) — 6:07.52
4. Switzerland (Joel Schürch, Tim Roth, Patrick Brunner, Kai Schätzle) — 6:10.86

UP NEXT
Thursday's M4- 'A' Final race, which will take place at 6:10 a.m. ET (12:10 p.m. CET), could be a historic one for the Americans as it is seeking its first Olympic gold medal in the discipline since 1960 in Rome.

Any medal would be the American's first since earning bronze at the 2012 Olympics in London, and mark the fifth time over the last 40 years that it medaled in the men's 4- event at the Olympics, when it won silver in three consecutive Olympics: Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), and Barcelona (1992).

Should Grady earn a medal on Thursday, he would be the second Cornellian to win a medal in the men's 4- event at the Olympics, joining Dave Clark '82, who won silver in Los Angeles in 1984. It would be the first Olympic medal won by a Cornell alum in rowing since Stephanie Maxwell-Pierson '86 received bronze in the women's coxless pair in Barcelona, and would signify the Big Red's first male Olympic medalist in rowing since a trio of alums — Clark, Walter (Chip) Lubsen '77 (men's eight), and Dave Bach '82 (coxed four) — in Los Angeles in 1984.

Race action on Thursday can be streamed live on Peacock, NBC's video streaming service, while the replay of the finals of the double sculls — which could also feature Cornell lightweight rowing alum Sorin Koszyk '20 — and men's four will air on a tape-delay on USA Network on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

MEN'S FOUR SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Tuesday, July 30
Repechages  — 11:40 a.m. CET (5:40 a.m. ET)
First two qualify for 'A' Final, remainder to 'B' Final
1. Italy
2. Netherlands
3. France
4. Romania
5. Switzerland

Thursday, Aug. 1
'B' Final — 11:06 a.m. CET (5:06 a.m. ET)

'A' Final — 12:10 p.m. CET (6:10 a.m. ET)
Lane assignments to be determined
1. New Zealand
2. United States
3. Great Britain
4. Australia

CORNELL ROWING AT 2024 OLYMPICS SCHEDULE
Tuesday, July 30
Koszyk — Men's Double Sculls Semifinals — 11:20 a.m. CET (5:20 a.m. ET)

Thursday, Aug. 1
Koszyk — Men's Double Sculls Final — 10:42 a.m. CET (4:42 a.m. ET)
Grady — Men's Four Final — 12:10 p.m. CET (6:10 a.m. ET)