Natalie Dell (SPH ’08) Wins Olympic Bronze Medal in Rowing.

Natalie Dell and her teammates held off a powerful late advance by the Australian team to win bronze medals in the exciting women’s quadruple sculls final in the London Olympics. 

 Teams from Ukraine and Germany took gold and silver. Each had won their individual heats last Saturday and were early favorites to contend for the top two positions in the finals. The American and Australian teams were placed in Monday’s repechage round to battle for the remaining berths in the final, with the Australians winning the repechage just ahead of the US team.

In the final, the US team went out fast with a blistering early run. At the 1000-meter halfway marker, the US squad was just 1.89 seconds behind the Ukranian team and just a few strokes ahead of the formidable German team. Possibly showing the effects of the extra day of competition, the US squad faltered slightly in the middle part of the race but pulled strongly through to the end to earn a spot on the podium.   

Dell, a former health policy and management concentrator, is a health researcher at the Bedford VA HSR&D Center of Excellence. Find out more about Dell in this archived Insider story and in a feature by US Rowing. Time magazine recently used a photo of Dell and her teammates in a story comparing the grueling workouts that rowers endure with the training done by other Olympic athletes.

Natalie Dell, left, and teammates celebrate during the medals ceremony. Photo: Getty Images