Molesey Boat Club captain Andrew Triggs Hodge has offered his gold medal as inspiration to wannabe Olympians to get out of their armchairs and get into a boat.

After clinching the Olympic title in the men’s four at Eton Dorney, Triggs Hodge revealed that winning the gold medal has been part of his plan since taking over the club captaincy four years ago.

He said: “It has always been my goal to bring Molesey together. We engineered a rowing structure with more coaches and sponsorship and an ethos of support and teamwork that has led to this gold medal.

“Everything I do at the club is inspired by what I can do at this level and my dream has been to produce a foundation for more guys to come through in the sport and help the next generation achieve their dreams.”

Fellow Molesey members Greg Searle, Mo Sbihi, James Foad and George Nash picked up bronze medals and Triggs Hodge said: “I am very proud of all the guys. They have all fought incredibly hard. There are some really strong athletes coming through and I am really proud to be a small part of that.

“I am all about inspiring young guys to get out of the armchair and get into the sport because there is so much to life.”

In the race, Great Britain led from the start and never relinquished the gold spot, beating World Cup winners and rivals Australia into second place.

Roared home by the partisan crowd, Triggs Hodge and team mates Alex Gregory, Pete Reed and Tom James crossed the line in 6.03.97, with the Australians recording 6.05.19 for silver and the US in third (6.07.20).

Triggs Hodge, who won gold in the same event in Beijing, said: “Coming up to the finishing line was utterly terrifying. In Beijing we were very removed from what was happening back home but here it is all around you.

“The crowd gave you a lot of belief and a lot of confidence but ultimately it put you closer to the cliff edge that this could be great or this could be a disaster.

“Even in the race there is part of you that is waiting for it to go wrong. It took an enormous amount of guts, an enormous amount of belief and a lot of sacrifice from our lives. But it is a huge honour to be able to sit here as Olympic champions and to do it in front of your home crowd is indescribable, I cannot put it into words.”