Boothbay Harbor’s Eleanor “Ellie” Logan and the U.S.A. women’s eight rowing team took gold at the London Olympics Aug. 2. Logan was also a member of the U.S. Team that won gold in 2008 in Bejing.

Her friends, neighbors, former teachers and family cheered her on here at home. Logan’s aunt Sarah Logan Wilcox was one the fans watching the race live online. “They were so strong coming out half a boat length ahead in the first quarter,” Wilcox said. “I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, but by the time they hit the last 600 yards, I was crying! To experience this a second time is over-the-top; just amazing!”

Logan and her teammates took control of the 2000-meter race from the beginning. They led by .5 seconds the first 500 meters, and more than 2 seconds halfway through the race. The Canadian team came close to closing the gap in the final 500 meters, but the U.S. team maintained its lead and won by just under 1.5 seconds.

In an email following the race Logan said she was calm but excited on the morning of the race. She said there is an element of nervousness, but you learn how to direct the energy to your benefit.

“After the first five strokes of the race I felt that we had a shot at the gold, but I quickly put those thoughts aside and got down to business,” Logan wrote. “I focused on each stroke and kept all my focus within our boat and my teammate sitting in front of me and backing up my stroke. I knew that if I gave everything I had and focused on rowing our race we would have a shot, but it takes an enormous amount of focus to keep thoughts of the outcome cleared from your head. I try my best to turn my brain off, listen to Mary, and listen to my instinct. We row three times a day for four years leading up to this race. My body knows what to do and I trust my instinct. That being said, the last 500 meters I knew the gold was in grasp, and I told myself I would keep giving more and more to not let Canada move back an inch.”

The team's training schedule consisted of two to three practices a day, six days a week. As the Olympics grew closer the team was practicing every day. Logan said it's a full-time job, but rowers receive only a small monthly stipend. While training, Logan and her teammates lived with host families in Princeton, N.J. In the winter, training is at the Chula Vista Training Center in California.

In between all this training, Logan is a student at Stanford and has three more years to finish her undergraduate work, something she found very challenging.

“I was on the Stanford rowing team so I had time allotted each day for training. The most important part of training I have found is sleep, and the one thing you don't get in college is sleep,” Logan wrote. “Also, people had a lot of expectations, which doesn't not bother me but I am aware of it. I just tried to always focus on what was best at that time and not worry about the future too much.”

Logan spent summers in Princeton to train with the national team which trains full-time year round. She would “always get her butt kicked” when she first arrived and spent a great deal of time catching up fitness-wise.

At the flag ceremony on Dorney Lake in Windsor, England, the gold medals were presented by 1976 Olympic rower Anita DeFrantz, who is now a member of the International Olympic Committee.

“I think I had a lot more fun on the podium this time,” Logan said. “In Beijing, I was so in shock and had no idea what was happening that I didn't realize the anthem was even playing. This time I was enjoying the moment a lot and loved singing to the anthem!

“In Beijing I was 20 and it was my first race with the national team. I just followed my older teammates, did what I was told, tried my best, and I was extremely lucky to be a part of that boat.

“I would say I was more relieved at first to have won the gold but then I felt so honored to have raced at another Olympics with my amazingly talented teammates.”

Fourteen family members joined Logan in London: dad and step-mom Bill and Jaimie Logan, her sister Jess, mom and step-dad Jennifer and Mark Kierstead, uncle and aunt Alex and Camma Logan, cousin Hope Logan and other cousins from both sides of the family. For Logan, having so many family members watching was “wonderful and amazing.”

Her post-Olympics plan – for now – is to spend some time in Spain getting some much deserved R&R, and return home in late October.

In 2008, a special ceremony was held for Logan in the Waterfront Park on Commercial Street. Boothbay Harbor Town Manager Tom Woodin is in the beginning stages of planning another welcome home for Boothbay's golden girl.