Nathan Cohen reflected on the moment he helped New Zealand win their first gold of the London Games after he and Joseph Sullivan took the Men’s Double Sculls title at Eton Dorney.

The defending world champions left it late as they moved up the field to finish in 6:31.67, powering past nearest rivals Alessio Sartori and Romano Battisti of Italy by 1.13 seconds.

Cohen said: “We’ve never had the privilege of getting out in front because we’re one of the smaller crews, but we had a toughness and belief in each other that we would never give up.

"I almost enjoyed those last three to four strokes.”