One of the four, Allar Raja, said post race: "This was one of those races where there was no benchmark goal."

"It was simply a yes or no: Either you make it or you don't. Getting a top two finish was the major goal essentially, but I didn't realize how much that would matter to me. These bursts of emotion derive from somewhere inside. Yes, it's a very, very big deal, emotionally speaking, to reach the Olympics in this way."

In addition to Raja, the quad sculls team consists of Mikhail Kushteyn, Tõnu Endrekson, and Johann Poolak

In the first half of the 2000-meter race, Estonia did battle with France, Australia, and the U.S. However, in the latter half of the race, Estonia pulled ahead of France and Australia, and finally got the march on the U.S. team too, thanks to a sterling final push and beating them by 0.13 seconds.

The team finished 1.31 seconds behind race winner Norway (overall time 5:50.89).

Endrekson will be competing in his sixth olympics in Paris, with Raja not far behind – this will be his fifth summer games.

Poolak was a reserve rower at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, while Kushteyn will be making his Olympic debut in Paris.

In addition to Estonia and Norway, other countries that have qualified for the Olympics in this quad sculls include the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany, and Romania.

The 2024 Paris Olympics run July 26 to August 11.

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