Steve Redgrave

Steve Redgrave

Redgrave in 2011
Personal information
Birth name Steven Geoffrey Redgrave
Nationality British
Born (1962-03-23) 23 March 1962
Marlow, Buckinghamshire, UK
Education Great Marlow School
Occupation Rower
Height 6 ft 4.75 in (1.95 m)
Weight 16 st 2 lb (103 kg) (2000)
Spouse(s) Ann Redgrave
Website www.steveredgrave.com
Sport
Country Great Britain
Sport Men's Rowing
Club Marlow Rowing Club
Leander Club
Team GB Rowing Team
Coached by Mike Spracklen
Jürgen Gröbler
Retired 2000
Medal record
Men's Rowing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
1984 Los Angeles Coxed Four
1988 Seoul Coxless Pair
1992 Barcelona Coxless Pair
1996 Atlanta Coxless Pair
2000 Sydney Coxless Four
1988 Seoul Coxed Pair
World Championships
1986 Nottingham Coxed Pair
1987 Copenhagen Coxless Pair
1991 Vienna Coxless Pair
1993 Račice Coxless Pair
1994 Indianapolis Coxless Pair
1995 Tampere Coxless Pair
1997 Aiguebelette Coxless Four
1998 Cologne Coxless Four
1999 St. Catharines Coxless Four
1987 Copenhagen Coxed Pair
1989 Bled Coxless Pair
1990 Tasmania Coxless Pair
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
1986 Edinburgh Single Sculls
1986 Edinburgh Coxless Pair
1986 Edinburgh Coxed Four
Updated on 5 March 2014.

Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE DL (born on 23 March 1962) is a retired British rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds. He is regarded as one of Britain's greatest-ever Olympians, the most successful male rower in Olympic history, and the only person to have won gold medals at five Olympic Games in an endurance sport.[1][2][3][4]

In 2002, Redgrave was ranked number 36 in the BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.[5] As of 2012 he is the third most decorated British Olympian after Sir Chris Hoy and Sir Bradley Wiggins. He has carried the British flag at the opening of the Olympic Games on two occasions. In 2011 he received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year – Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early life and education

Statue of Redgrave in Higginson Park, Marlow

Redgrave was born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire to Geoffrey Edward Redgrave, a submariner in World War II who became a builder, and Sheila Marion daughter of Harold Stevenson, a local bus driver. In 1887 his great grandparents, Harry and Susannah Redgrave, migrated to Marlow from Bramfield, Suffolk.[6] He was educated at Great Marlow School, where he achieved ABRSM Grade 5 on the Bassoon.

Rowing career

Redgrave's primary discipline was sweep rowing where he won Olympic Gold rowing both bowside and strokeside (port and starboard).

From 1991 the crews in which he rowed became renowned for their consistent dominance, winning almost every time they raced. Indeed, the occasional lapses, such as the Lucerne regatta in 2000, were regarded with surprise by both the rowing community and the press.

For much of his career he suffered illness – in 1992 he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, and in 1997 he was diagnosed with Diabetes mellitus type 2.[7]

In 1989/1990 Redgrave was a member of the British bobsleigh team, as well as national champion.

Olympic games

Redgrave won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000 plus a bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Games.

Immediately after winning the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal, he stated if anyone found him close to a rowing boat again they could shoot him.[8]

In 2000, he won his fifth consecutive Olympic Gold Medal and retired from the sport. In August 2000, prior to his final Olympic games, the BBC broadcast Gold Fever, a 3-part BBC documentary which had followed the coxless four in the years leading up to the Olympics. It included video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for gold. At the medal ceremony after 2000 Summer Olympics he was also presented with a gold Olympic pin by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch in recognition of his achievement.[9]

World Championships

At the World Rowing Championships he won 9 gold medals, 2 silvers, and a bronze.

He won the World Championship for Indoor rowing in 1991.[10]

Henley Royal Regatta

He competed at Henley Royal Regatta for more than two decades, winning : the Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup for coxless pairs seven times (twice with Andy Holmes, once with Simon Berrisford and four times with Matthew Pinsent); the Stewards' Challenge Cup for coxless fours five times; the Diamond Challenge Sculls twice; the Double Sculls Challenge Cup with Eric Sims then with Adam Clift; and the Queen Mother Challenge Cup for quadruple sculls.

Wingfield Sculls

He won the Wingfield Sculls for single scullers five times between 1985 and 1989.

Life after rowing

In April 2006 Redgrave completed his third London Marathon, raising a record £1,800,000 for charity.

In April 2008 he took part in the Olympic Torch relay for the games in Beijing.

He starred in Top Ground Gear Force for Sport Relief in 2008, where the Top Gear Team (Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond) took on Ground Force with predictable results, and trashed his garden.[11]

He launched his own Fairtrade Cotton Brand of Clothing called FiveG which is sold in Debenhams department stores.[11]

He was involved in starting a rowing academy in India at Lavasa, the new Hill City being developed near Pune City.[12]

In 2010, he was named a Patron of the Jaguar Academy of Sport.[13]

In 2012, he took up kayaking and attempted the Devizes to Westminster marathon kayak race but had to withdraw halfway through due to tiredness.[14]

He rowed on the Gloriana as part of the royal pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[15]

He was one of the final torch-bearers for the 2012 Summer Olympics, carrying the torch into the stadium, where the seven young athletes did the honours of lighting the cauldron at the opening ceremony.

In August 2014, Redgrave was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[16]

Personal life

He married Ann Callaway (now Ann, Lady Redgrave) in 1988; an accomplished rower in her own right, she represented Great Britain in the women's eight at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and was Chief Medical Officer to the GB rowing team from 1992 to 2001 and since 2009 their first full-time Medical Officer.[17] He is the honorary president of British Rowing.[18]

Steven and Ann Redgrave have three children, Natalie, Sophie and Zac. Natalie rowed with the Oxford University Women's Boat Club which won the women's boat race at Henley Boat Races in 2011.[19][20][21]

He is dyslexic, a condition which he has suffered from since his school days.

He is a supporter of Chelsea Football Club.

Honours

Insignia of
Knight Bachelor

In the 2001 New Year Honours he was appointed a Knight Bachelor "for services to Rowing" which he received from Queen Elizabeth II on 1 May 2001 in Buckingham Palace.[22][23]

He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1987 and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1997.

In 2000 he was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

In 2001 the International Rowing Federation awarded him the Thomas Keller Medal for Outstanding International Rowing Career.

In November 2001 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University from Heriot Watt University having previously been awarded an Honorary Blue in 1997.[24][25]

In 2002, his fifth Olympic gold was voted the greatest sporting moment in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.[26]

The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake was opened by him and Matt Pinsent in 2006. The lake and boathouse provide training, medical and scientific facilities for the GB rowing squad.

In 2010 he was an Awarded the degree of Hon. LLD from the University of St Andrews

In 2011 he was awarded the BBC Sports – Lifetime Achievement Award

In 2013 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Edinburgh "in recognition of his outstanding sporting achievements and role as a sports ambassador".[27][28]

He is commemorated at Burnham Grammar School, Redbridge Community School and Broadlands Science and Engineering School as one of the four houses there. At Linton Village College in Cambridgeshire and Woodcote High School in Croydon, there is a school faculty (house) named after him.[11]

Styles and honours

Achievements

Olympic Games

World Rowing Championships

  • 1999 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Ed Coode, Matthew Pinsent)
  • 1998 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Matthew Pinsent)
  • 1997 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Matthew Pinsent)
  • 1995 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
  • 1994 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
  • 1993 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
  • 1991 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
  • 1990 – Bronze, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)
  • 1989 – Silver, Coxless Pairs (with Simon Berrisford)
  • 1989 – 5th, Coxed Pairs (with Simon Berrisford and Patrick Sweeney)
  • 1987 – Gold, Coxless Pairs (with Andy Holmes)
  • 1987 – Silver, Coxed Pairs (with Andy Holmes and Patrick Sweeney)
  • 1986 – Gold, Coxed Pairs (with Andy Holmes and Patrick Sweeney)
  • 1985 – 12th, Single Sculls
  • 1983 – Single Sculls
  • 1982 – 6th, Quadruple Scull
  • 1981 – 8th, Quadruple Scull

Junior World Rowing Championships

Henley Royal Regatta

  • 2001 – Queen Mother Challenge Cup
  • 2000 – Stewards' Challenge Cup
  • 1999 – Stewards' Challenge Cup
  • 1998 – Stewards' Challenge Cup
  • 1997 – Stewards' Challenge Cup
  • 1995 – Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup
  • 1994 – Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup
  • 1993 – Stewards' Challenge Cup
  • 1993 – Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup
  • 1991 – Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup
  • 1989 – Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup
  • 1987 – Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup
  • 1986 – Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup
  • 1985 – Diamond Challenge Sculls
  • 1983 – Diamond Challenge Sculls
  • 1982 – Double Sculls Challenge Cup
  • 1981 – Double Sculls Challenge Cup

Other

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Redgrave to end golden rowing career". ABC. Retrieved 28 July 2012
  2. ↑ "Queen honours Redgrave". BBC News. 1 May 2001.
  3. ↑ "Sir Steve steps out for diabetes". BBC News. 10 June 2001.
  4. ↑ Hart, Simon (6 September 2003). "Olympics: London want Redgrave in driving seat". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  5. ↑ "100 great Britons". London: Daily Mail. 21 August 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  6. ↑ Ancestry.com Steve Redgrave
  7. ↑ Gallen, Ian W.; Steve and Ann Redgrave (1 July 2003). "Olympic Diabetes" (PDF). Clinical Medicine, Journal of the Royal College of Physicians 03 (4): 333–337.
  8. ↑ Bagchi, Rob (7 December 2011). "50 stunning Olympic moments No4: Steve Redgrave's fifth gold medal". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Redgrave's Golden Glory". BBC. 23 September 2000. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  10. ↑ CRASH-B Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships Historical Winners
  11. 1 2 3 "Steve Redgrave website". Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  12. ↑ Redgrave, to help nurture rowing in India, The Hindu, 14 June 2010
  13. ↑ Jaguar Academy of Sport. "Homepage".
  14. ↑ "Sir Steve Redgrave quits Devizes to London canoe race". BBC News. 8 April 2012.
  15. ↑ Redgrave part of Diamond Jubilee celebrations
  16. ↑ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories | Politics". theguardian.com. 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  17. ↑ "GB Rowing's Coaching line-up". British Rowing. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  18. ↑ "Structure". British Rowing. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  19. ↑ "Natalie Redgrave helps Oxford win Women's Boat Race". BBC News. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  20. ↑ "Steve Redgrave: My Family Values". The Guardian. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  21. ↑ Quarrell, Rachel (3 March 2011). "Natalie Redgrave ready to follow her father's footsteps and take the plunge for Oxford in varsity Boat Race". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  22. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56070. pp. 1–2. 30 December 2000. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  23. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 56313. p. 10049. 24 August 2001. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  24. ↑ "Heriot Watt Annual Review". 2001.
  25. ↑ http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/docs/HWU_Honorary_Graduates_FINAL.pdf
  26. ↑ "100 Greatest Sporting Moments – Results". Channel 4. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  27. 1 2 Quote taken from the programme notes of the ceremony in McEwan Hall, Edinburgh 8th October 2013
  28. 1 2 "A celebration of achievement | News archive |". Ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  29. ↑ "Heriot-Watt University". www1.hw.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-30.

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