THERE was a first medal for Oxfordshire athletes at London 2012 today with the rowing men's eight winning bronze.

The crew including Oxford University 's Stan Louloudis plus former Oxford Brookes man and current Leander Club member Alex Partridge led briefly before finishing third behind Germany and Canada.

Also in the boat were Leander trio Richard Egington, Matthew Langridge and cox Phelan Hill.

But there was bitter disappointment for the women's quadruple sculls, featuring Wheatley's Fran Houghton and Debbie Flood, from Henley, who finished last in their final.

The men's eight were neck and neck with Germany for the first half of their race, but couldn't quite maintain their gold medal challenge, taking bronze in 5mins 51.18secs.

However, the women's quad caught a crab early on and never really recovered, eventually trailing home in 6.51.54 - almost 16 secs behind winners Ukraine.

Britain's men's quad, featuring Leander Club members Steve Rowbotham, Tom Solesbury and Matt Wells, reached their final on Friday after finishing third in 6.05.71.

They made history in the process by becoming the first British crew to make an Olympic final in that boat.

Britain's men's pair, featuring Will Satch, from Henley, also made their final on Friday after a dominant semi-final victory.

They were fourth at 500m, but steadily went through the field to win in 6.56.46.