ZAC Purchase was denied a second consecutive Olympic gold medal in a dramatic men's lightweight double sculls final.

The 26-year-old former King's School Worcester pupil and Mark Hunter had to be content with silver in front of their home crowd at London 2012 after their success at Beijing four years ago.

The race had to be restarted after Purchase encountered problems with his seat in their boat early on and stopped racing.

However, the Great Britain pair then opened strongly and looked to be on course for gold only for a tremendous fightback from the Danish duo who passed them late on to seize the title.

A tearful Purchase said afterwards: "The crowd was amazing - but I just wish we had been a bit quicker for everyone."