Did Facebook’s origin story just lead to the U.S. earning its first men’s four rowing gold medal in over six decades?
Justin Best, who took first with his teammates Liam Corrigan, Michael Grady and Nick Mead at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 1, says that he first found the sport because of 2010 biographical drama The Social Network.
“So I was in between sports and I was going into my freshman year of high school and I had gotten a concussion in football and I was like, ‘No more football,’ ” recounts Best while chatting with PEOPLE at the Team USA house on Aug. 2. “So my parents were watching The Social Network one summer night. And obviously the Winklevoss twins are portrayed, and they are rowers by nature. And so my parents were like, ‘Hey, Justin has a similar body type to the actor who portrayed them.’ ”
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The Social Network chronicles the creation of Facebook and starred Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. In the film, Armie Hammer portrays Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, twin classmates of Zuckerberg’s at Harvard University who later sued him over the creation of Facebook.
Cameron and Tyler competed together in rowing in the 2008 Olympics, and their rowing career is part of the film.
“So they Googled rowing clubs and signed me up for Learn to Row in northern Delaware and Wilmington, called Newport Rowing Club,” says Best. “And got my first week with rowing camp.”
The rest, Best says, is history: “I loved it and haven’t looked back.”
Best and his teammates defeated New Zealand to win the gold earlier this week, with Great Britain coming in third place. It was the result of dedication and sacrifice, the athletes said.
“There were some days that I personally was like, ‘This is horrible. This is very difficult,’ ” Best says of the lead-up to the Games. “But you know, that motivation, that extrinsic motivation from these three guys has helped me a ton.”
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