Profile of an Olympic legend - Sir Steve Redgrave
Sir Steve Redgrave is a legendary British Olympic rower who has won five gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games. Some have called him the greatest British Olympian of all time, while others have hailed him as the best athlete that Britain has produced
in the last few years. He has since retired from active competition and has led a very active life ever since. He was recently in the news again after he severely injured himself and required reconstructive surgery on his face after a very serious bicycle
accident in America. But he bounced right back and even a bionic face has not slowed this champion down. This heroic Olympian and rowing champion’s story is a fascinating one and needs to be explored further.
Sir Steve was born on the 23rd of March, 1962 in Buckinghamshire. His early education was nothing special, unlike his imposing size. Even by rowing standards the future Olympian was huge; he stands 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 100kgs in his
prime. He started rowing early in his life and he was one of the strongest competitors that England had ever produced. He, along with his team, became particularly known for their dominance and won almost every single time they raced. When they did make mistakes
or lose, it made the headlines of newspapers and the evening news because it was such a rare event. The rowing crew that Redgrave was a part of was dominant throughout the 90s and he continued the trend even after that.
Sir Steve’s true brilliance came when he took part in the Olympic Games. He was such a strong rower that he was able to compete in five different Games and won gold medals in all of them. This feat was unprecedented and has only been repeated by three other
Olympians in the history of the Games. The tall rowing genius’ specialities were the Coxed Four, the Coxless Pair and the Coxless Four and he won numerous medals in these disciplines over the years.
The five consecutive gold medal winning performances were in different Olympic categories. The first medal was won at the 1984 Los Angeles Games in the Coxed Four, while the second was in 1988 at Seoul, this time in the Coxless Pair. In Barcelona in 1992,
Redgrave won his third gold medal, also in the Coxless Pair and managed to win his fourth at the next Games which were held in Atlanta in 1996, again in the Coxless Pair. In 2000, the British rower made history by winning his fifth consecutive gold medal in
the Sydney Summer Games, this time in the Coxless Four. This was not the end of his Olympic medal tally as he even won a bronze medal at the 1988 Games in Seoul in the Coxed Pair race.
Besides his amazing Olympic record he also managed to win gold medals at the 1986, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999 World Championships. This great rowing champion also won three gold medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh.
His huge collection of gold medals over the years led to him being made an MBE in 1987, a CBE in 1997 and being knighted in 2001. Sir Steve retired from the sport in 2000 after the Sydney Olympics and started to lead a very active life after rowing.
Recently, Redgrave was taking part in a strenuous bicycle ride across America called the RAAM Race, which runs from California to Maryland. The 48-year-old was part of Team Redgrave and he was about to finish the race when he got a flat tyre on his bike
which sent him flying onto the tarmac. He was badly injured with a broken cheek bone, a concussion, three cracked ribs, a dislocated finger and a double break in his wrist. Even after having a titanium plate implanted into his face to fix his badly broken
cheekbone, the burly former rower revived and is on his way to making a full recovery. It seems that a true champion cannot be kept down.
Over the years, Sir Steve has inspired countless other Olympians to achieve their best and excel at their chosen sport. With heroes like Steve Redgrave to look up to, the world’s Olympians will keep on impressing fans for many years to come.
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