Karolien Florijn and Olli Zeidler, favorites to win all week and, really, this entire quadrennial, won Olympic gold today as the Olympic Regatta came to an end.

Paris podium in M1x: AIN (silver), GER (gold), NED (bronze)

Quotes below from the medalists today--and the full results from today's racing can be found here

"Free in My Mind" and Fast - Olli Zeidler, GER M1x

Zeidler, the world champion, won the Olympic gold in Paris that eluded him in Tokyo, where he could not get past the semi-final round.

"Tokyo almost broke me, I have to say. I almost quit rowing," Zeidler said. "[But I came] back into the sport, gearing with my father, continuing similar to what we did before Tokyo, with the will to become better and better.

"There have been big, big sacrifices. I mention my mom who really struggled sometimes when my dad spent almost all the day in training with me. Bringing this medal home will mean a lot to her as well because now we have something to look at and I can say this was the reason for it. She will be as happy as we are.

"The semifinal was mentally the toughest race. We had a similar lineup as in the semi final of Tokyo. So some thoughts came up, and after the race I spent a few moments in the cooldown area, just saying goodbye to the demons of Tokyo, because I did it in style with an Olympic record. Faster than anyone before has ever been at the Olympics. It was an amazing achievement, an amazing race.

"Today, I was just free in my mind. I enjoyed every stroke of this race. After 1000 meters, I saw that I will win this race because I was still fresh and everything that Simon tried, I could easily respond. It was really was like a dream today to go over the course."

In his final race before Paris, Zeidler lost to today's bronze medallist, Simon Van Dorp, in Lucerne, but he said that loss actually helped him win today.

"I think it took a bit of pressure [off] actually," he said of the Lucerne result. "It was a very close race. I wanted it a bit too much on that day. I rated too high on the second 500 and this was a mistake I learned from. We adapted and, in the end, we found a race plan for Paris. We trained here on the course which was super helpful because it felt like coming home here when we arrived.

"I think it helped in the end, because it took a lot of pressure [off]."

The silver went to the Neutral Athlete, Yauheni Zalaty from Belarus, who improbably trailed in sixth place with less than 500 meters to go. In the final quarter, Zalaty was able to catch all of the other scullers who had tried to stick with Zeidler's pace to win his first Olympic medal.

"The race was quite difficult," said Zalaty. "All the opponents went forward to try and catch Zeidler, but in the middle, I felt the other athletes slowed, and I would be able to be quicker."

This for a sculler who spent part of his morning on a broken down bus trying to get to the venue. The whole race was postponed an hour so Zalaty could finish the trip, and he ended what had to be a stressful morning on the podium.

The bronze medallist Simon Van Dorp tried to go with Zeidler just as he had done in Lucerne, where staying close to the German gave him the opportunity to get in front at the end.

Van Dorp said today that the Lucerne race was "one of the coolest races I've ever been in."

"Melvin Twellaar, from the double, described it and said it was like two heavyweight boxers who were just done. Their cover is gone and they are just throwing haymakers, and that is what it felt like.

"I was expecting a similar race today, but I guess my cover was gone earlier than I thought it would be. And I guess Olli was stronger than he has been, which is impressive.

"In the first thousand, I did what I what I had to do to be there. I don't quite know why my legs didn't do what I wanted, but I just didn't have the legs to stay with him.

"This was the race I wanted to be in, I wanted to be in the position to go for gold. I'm happy with what I tried to do and, yeah, the is the biggest medal I've ever had," he said, lifting the heavy Olympic medal in his hand.

"I Had to Work Today" - Karolien Florijn NED W1x

Karolien Florijn has owned the single scull, having won every race she entered since switching into it after winning silver in the four at Tokyo. Today, Tokyo singles champ Emma Twigg gave Florijn perhaps her closest race yet, but Florijn kept her bow in front all the way to the line.

"Emma pushed a lot, so I had to work today, Florijn said, "It was really good. It was my maximum performance.

"So much respect to Emma, her fifth Olympic Games. She really wanted to have the gold medal as well. She's so supportive. Directly after the finish, she congratulated me. She's a really amazing athlete and I respect her so much.

"She had a very good start and right from the beginning, she put pressure on me. It was really great to race and I'm very proud of that I crossed the finish line first.

"The quality of the field is so good, everybody wants to have the medal.

"Since I was born, it is my dream to win this medal. It's was a very emotional ceremony with all this crowd here; my friends, my family, all the supporters for Dutch and to share this moment with them because I am alone in a single scull but so many people want this for me. I'm really proud of myself and of everybody who helps me. Very grateful."

When asked what might be next for her, after a quadrennial of doing nothing other than win in the single, Florijn had some ideas.

"There's a new discipline in LA [Olympics], coastal rowing, so I'm going to look a bit into that and I will see what the next season brings."

Twigg added this Paris silver to the gold she won in Tokyo.

"I'm just super proud that we had an amazing race and it was a spectacle for people, Twigg said. "Karolien was always going to be the one to beat today and she really sent it out at the start.

"For me, it was just hanging on there and challenging. Unfortunately the juice ran out a little bit too early, but that just shows I put everything into the front end. I'm proud of this [medal] and proud of the last few years.

"There was a moment where I thought I was going to keep going," Twigg said about working into Florijn's lead, "but she obviously had another gear in the tank. So absolute credit to her. She's an amazing athlete and I'm just pleased that my 37-year-old body could keep up with her."

The bronze went to Lithuania's Viktorija Senkute, who has made the A final at Worlds the past two years, but never the podium. Her bronze was Lithuania's first medal of the Games and the first ever in women's single sculls.

She earned by sprinting through Australia's Tara Rigney, who missed the podium for the first time this quadrennial here in Paris.

"I was thinking all the time that I can't give up. I need to keep fighting," said Senkute.

"I knew that the medal fight will be done at the end of the last 500 meters. I practiced those 500 meters at home many, many times and I knew that I can do it. I kept fighting, and here we are."

Later at the press conference, sitting with Florijn and Twigg, Senkute said:

"I am very happy to be here with two Olympic champions. I am living in a dream and still cannot believe it."