Logan earns third gold medal in Rio Games

Boothbay Harbor native is only woman to win three Olympic rowing gold medals
Wed, 08/17/2016 - 10:00am

Like she did in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, Ellie Logan won another Olympic gold medal Aug. 13 in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic games. Logan is the only member of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Eight Rowing team to compete in all three Olympic championships. She is also the only woman in the sport to win three Olympic gold medals.

The two-time defending Olympic champion team came into the 2016 Rio games as an overwhelming favorite. The team had won 10 consecutive world championships dating back to 2006. The U.S. team earned its third straight Olympic gold medal last week, defeating Great Britain by 2.49 seconds in completing the 2,000 meter course in 6:03.98.

Logan, 28, graduated from Stanford University in 2011 with a degree in European  history. She spent the past year devoting herself to reaching her peak as an athlete. But it seems the 2016 Rio games may be her last. After the gold medal race, Logan told NBC Sports she’s ending her career as a competitive rower.

““I think I’m done,” she said. “You have to commit 130 percent of yourself every day. I’m not ready to commit anything right now for the foreseeable future.”

Her main goal in competing in the Rio games was to train full-time to reach her peak as an athlete.

“This was actually the full cycle of quad training I’ve done. The past two Olympics I was in the middle of college and I didn’t feel I reached my full potential as an athlete,” she said.

In July, Logan told The Boothbay Register her post-Olympic plans were to spend more time with her husband, Carlos Dinares, a former Spanish competitive rower. The couple married in 2015. She also plans on visiting Boothbay Harbor this fall.

Despite the Rio games being marred by health concerns about the Zika virus and poor water quality impacting the aquatic events, Logan was thrilled the Brazilian city hosted the games.

As an athlete, she liked the Summer Games being held in a country experiencing its winter and in a time zone only one hour behind the eastern United States’.

“I’m glad Rio is the host,” Logan said in July. “I remember watching the commercials about Rio winning the bid and thinking how amazing it would be to compete there. It’s a beautiful country and I can’t believe this is happening.”

The three gold medals aren’t the only major accomplishments on her rowing career resume. She was a four-year First-Team All-American and a member of Stanford’s NCAA championship rowing team. Since the 2012 Olympics, she competed internationally three years ago in the Quadruple Sculls, Single and Eight. In 2014, she competed in the Pair, Quadruple, Sculls, and Eight. In 2015, Logan competed in the Pair and Eight, and this year, again, in the Pair and Eight events.

Efforts to reach Logan for comments before press time were not successful.