3. Click Image to enlarge… Home T his presentation will take you through the historic fifth Olympic gold for sir Steve Redgrave and also give u a brief look in to the other members of the team some also on the verge of history with three or four Olympic Gold's.
4. Emotional scenes as Sir Steve Redgrave wins his fifth Olympic Gold Medal. Back
5. Left to Right: James Cracknell, Sir Steve Redgrave, Tim Foster and Matthew Pinsent after receiving their gold medals. Back
6. Back A Photo for all Great Britain become Olympic Champions
8. Back Sir Steve Redgrave showing off his Olympic Gold to the crowd and the cameras.
9. Back The Team Left to Right: Sir Steve Redgrave , Tim Foster , James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent .
10. Back Sir Steve Redgrave Next Coxless Four 2000 Sydney Gold Coxless Pair 1996 Atlanta Gold Coxless Pair 1992 Barcelona Gold Coxless Pair 1988 Seoul Gold Coxed Four 1984 Los Angeles Gold Men's Rowing Olympic Games Competitor for Great Britain Medal record
11. Previous Even by rowing standards, Redgrave is a big, powerful man. He stands 1.95 metres (6 ft 5 inches) tall. In his prime, he weighed more than 100 kg. His primary strength was in sweep oared rowing, where he has the distinction of being one of the few oarsmen to have won Olympic Gold rowing both bowside and strokeside. He also enjoyed success in indoor rowing, winning the World Championship for Indoor Rowing in 1991. He was also a successful single sculler winning the British National Championship numerous times, but not quite a world champion class single sculler. From 1991 onwards, Redgrave, and the crews in which he rowed, became renowned for their consistent dominance. They set themselves apart from many other internationally successful crews by winning almost every time they raced. Indeed, the very occasional lapses in this winning run, such as the Lucerne regatta in 2000, were regarded with surprise by both the rowing community and the press. For much of his career, Redgrave battled against severe illnesses. In 1992, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (although he had continued to train for a considerable time prior to diagnosis). In late 1997, diabetes was added to his list of ailments. Through careful management, however, he was able to continue training right up to the Sydney Olympics. In addition to his Olympic medals, Redgrave won 9 gold medals, 2 silvers, and a bronze at the Rowing World Championships. His 14 total Olympic and World Championship gold medals is unsurpassed by any other rower in history, although later equalled by his long-time rowing partner Matthew Pinsent. Next
12. Redgrave was an outstanding competitor at Henley Royal Regatta over twenty years. He won the Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup for coxless pairs seven times (twice with Andy Holmes, once with 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 once (with ) and the Queen Mother Challenge Cup for quadruple sculls once. In 1989/1990 he was a member of the British bobsleigh team, as well as national champion. Immediately after the winning 1996 Olympic Gold Medal in an interview Redgrave stated if anyone found him close to a rowing boat again they could shoot him. In 2000, Redgrave won his fifth consecutive Olympic Gold Medal, retired from the sport, and became the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, he took part in a 3-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever. This followed Redgrave and his crewmates in the coxless four in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for his fifth consecutive team gold. He was made an MBE in 1987, a CBE in 1997, and he became a Knight Bachelor in 2001. In 2002, his achievement of winning gold medals at five consecutive Olympic games was voted the greatest sporting moment in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments Previous
13. Tim Foster Back Next Competitor for Great Britain Olympic Games Coxless Fours 2000 Sydney Gold Men's Rowing Medal record
14. Previous Timothy "Tim" Foster (born 19 January 1970) is a British rower. He began rowing at Bedford Modern School and competed in the Junior World Rowing Championships in 1987 and 1988. In the latter he competed in a pair with a Matthew Pinsent. He became the first British rower to win gold medals at two consecutive Junior Worlds. From there he proceeded into the senior squad. In 1993 he underwent back surgery but was straight back in the boat for the 1994 season - coming 5th in the coxless four at the World Champs. This boat stayed together until the 1996 Olympics, where they won Bronze. Following his Olympic medal, he continued his university studies at Oxford - competing in the 1997 Boat Race. In 1997 he won a seat in the coxless four alongside Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell. In the run up to the Olympics, he again needed back surgery and time off after severing tendons in his hand by punching a window at a boat club party. In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, a 3-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever was broadcast. This followed the coxless four team in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for gold. Despite the problems Foster had had, he was in the final crew and they won Gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. After Sydney, he retired from international rowing, and retired as an active rower in December 2001. After a stint coaching at the University of London Boat Club, he joined the UK Sport-sponsored Elite Coach Programme in 2004. In January 2007, he became the Head Coach of the Swiss national rowing squad.
15. James Cracknell Next Back Coxless Four 2004 Athens Gold Coxless Four 2000 Sydney Gold Men's Rowing Olympic medal record
16. James Cracknell began rowing whilst attending Kingston Grammar School and rowed at the Junior World Championships in 1989 and 1990, winning a gold medal in 1990. Moving into the senior squad, Cracknell made numerous appearances in the World Rowing Championships; however, he did not win any medals prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics. He qualified in the double scull for the 1996 Games, but fell ill and was unable to race. In 1997, he won a seat in the men's coxless fours, with Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent and Tim Foster. With this crew, he won the rowing World Championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999 (with Ed Coode replacing the injured Foster), and finally the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, he took part in a 3-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever. This followed the coxless four team in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for gold. With Redgrave having retired, Cracknell joined Pinsent in the coxless pairs, winning the World Championships in 2001, when they also won the coxed pairs, and 2002. However, in 2003 a disappointing season was capped by a failure to win the World Championships, and Pinsent and Cracknell were shifted into the coxless four, with Steve Williams and originally Alex Partridge, with Ed Coode replacing the injured Partridge for the 2004 Summer Olympics. This crew won the gold medal in Athens, beating world champions Canada by 0.08s. Cracknell is married to TV and radio presenter Beverley Turner; their son, Croyde, was born in 2004. Next Previous
17. In the New Year Honours List published 31 December 2004 he was created an OBE for services to Sport. He came second the pairs division of the 2005–2006 Atlantic Rowing Race in " Spirit of EDF Energy ", partnered by Ben Fogle. Although they took first place in the line honours of the pairs event (overall, they were third to finish the race behind the two men's fours), the use of ballast water during the race resulted in the pair being moved to second position of the pairs event in accordance with the race rules. They made landfall in Antigua at 07:13 GMT on 19 January 2006, a crossing time of 49 days, 19 hours and 8 minutes. In February 2006, he announced his decision to retire from competitive rowing. Shortly after, Through Hell and High Water , a BBC/Twofour television programme of Cracknell and Fogle's experience of the Atlantic race, was aired. On 4 March 2006 it was announced that his house had been broken into and his Olympic gold medals had been stolen, along with his wedding ring and a laptop computer containing 20,000 words of a new book and family photographs. The gold medals have since been recovered. He ran the London Marathon on 23 April 2006, in a time of 3 hours, finishing over an hour ahead of his rowing team mate Matthew Pinsent. He is to be the special guest at The WiG GiG which aims to raise £10,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Back Previous
18. Matthew Pinsent Next Back Coxless Four 2004 Athens Gold Coxless Four 2000 Sydney Gold Coxless Pair 1996 Atlanta Gold Coxless Pair 1992 Barcelona Gold Men's Rowing Olympic Games Competitor for United Kingdom
19. In 1990, while still at Oxford, he joined Steve Redgrave in the coxless pair at the World Rowing Championships – winning bronze. This was the beginning of a long partnership, and the pair won at the World Championships in 1991, and at the Olympic Games in 1992 and 1996. In 2000 he won Olympic gold again as part of a coxless four with Redgrave, James Cracknell and Tim Foster. In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, he took part in a 3-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever. This followed the coxless four team in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for what would be Pinsent's third consecutive gold. Pinsent and Cracknell then formed a men's coxless pair and won the coxless and coxed pairs (with coxing) in the 2001 World Championships, and the coxless pair in 2002. However, after a disappointing 2003 season that saw Pinsent's first World Championships defeat since 1990, he and Cracknell moved to the men's coxless four for 2004. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Pinsent's fourth Olympic Games, Pinsent stroked the boat, with Cracknell, Ed Coode and Steve Williams. In a close race with world champions Canada, they again won gold. Pinsent was elected to the International Olympic Committee's Athletics Commission in 2001, replacing Jan Železný. In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, Pinsent failed to secure re-election to the post, being replaced by Železný. The 6ft 5 inch, 105 kg Pinsent had the largest lung capacity ever recorded in Britain, drawing in an astounding 8.5 litres of air with each breath, but has now been surpassed by fellow rower Peter Reed who has been measured at 11.68 litres. Previous