Olympic gold medalist Justin Best reveals how 'The Social Network' first got him into rowing

PARIS, FRANCE: Justin Best, who won the gold medal in men's four rowing with his teammates Liam Corrigan, Michael Grady, and Nick Mead at the Paris Olympics on August 1, revealed how he first learned about the sport.

At the Team USA house on August 2, Best recounted how the 2010 biographical drama 'The Social Network' introduced him to the sport and the eventual victory at the Olympics.

Justin Best's rowing career is inspired by 'The Social Network' movie

Speaking about his journey, Justin Best said, "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.'"

"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,'" he continued.

'The Social Network' starring Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield chronicles the creation of Facebook.

In the 2010 film, Armie Hammer portrayed Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, twin rowers who competed together in the 2008 Olympics.

The rowing career of the twins who were classmates of Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University is part of the biographical drama.

"So they Googled rowing clubs and signed me up for Learn to Row in northern Delaware and Wilmington, called Newport Rowing Club. And got my first week with rowing camp," Best said of the beginning of his journey.

"I loved it and haven't looked back," he added, according to People.

Justin Best's path to winning gold at 2024 Paris Olympics

Justin Best and his teammates who defeated New Zealand to win gold on August 1, trained rigorously, overcoming numerous challenges along the way.

Speaking about the lead-up to the Games, Best said, "There were some days that I personally was like, 'This is horrible. This is very difficult.'"

"But you know, that motivation, that extrinsic motivation from these three guys has helped me a ton," he added.

When Best was in elementary school, he and his family moved from Delaware to Pennsylvania and he started rowing for the Newport Rowing Club.

Speaking about the Olympian, Jess Crosby who is now the head coach at the club said, "I was a coxswain at Newport Rowing Club while Justin was here, and he was a fantastic teammate."