Paris 2024: Tears & redemption for Scottish rowers at Olympics

“You spend the last three years, pretty much every day thinking about it,” an emotional Carnegie told BBC Scotland.

“It’s not for me, it is for my teammates, my family, everyone who is coming to watch, everyone who has sacrificed so much for me, I can’t put it in to words.”

Born in London, Carnegie’s grandfather, from Edinburgh, got him started on his rowing journey, and the thought of making him “proud” only added to the emotion.

The long, hard miles on the bike around Islay while up with his family celebrating Christmas stick out as part of Carnegie’s journey to gold.

It’s all part of the “proud Scottish element” he describes, and his message to others is simple.

“Work hard, keep going and don’t let anyone say you can’t because I am not the biggest, not the tallest, not the strongest but with enough belief and enough positivity good things happen,” the 29-year-old says.