Olympic gold medal-winning rower Paul O’Donovan has expressed his delight at graduating from University College Cork (UCC) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine.

Speaking to the media at UCC on Friday, he said it was great to graduate alongside his classmates and thanked his family who were there to witness his achievement.

Speaking about the European Rowing Championships taking place in Bled in Slovenia, Mr O’Donovan wished all the best to Fintan McCarthy and his new lightweight double sculls partner Hugh Moore, as well as the rest of the Irish rowers taking part.

Mr O'Donovan was sitting college exams which ruled him out but has his mind set on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“It is a new combination now this weekend with the lightweight doubles and I’ve seen a video or two there during the week and they look pretty impressive so it'll be nice to see what they can do and also the whole team as well, they’re all looking fairly strong so it should be a good weekend for Irish rowing,” he told The Echo.

On future career plans, he said he has ambitions to become a surgeon, focusing particularly on orthopedics, but for now, he is looking forward to getting back to what he is good at for the summer which he said is being in a rowing boat.