Steven Redgrave biography
Steven Redgrave, in full Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave, (born March 23, 1962, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England), English rower, who was the primary in his sport to win gold medals at 5 consecutive Olympic Games. He was revered in his sport for his depth and strategic brilliance.
Redgrave grew up close to the banks of the River Thames and took up rowing at age 16. He first represented Great Britain on the world junior championships in 1979 and moved to the senior crew two years later. He gained his first Olympic gold medal on the 1984 Los Angeles Games within the coxed (with coxswain) fours (four-oared shell) rowing occasion. That similar yr he resolved to deal with rowing pairs over single sculls and on the winter sport of bobsledding. His profitable streak continued on the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, the place he rowed with Andy Holmes to a gold medal within the coxless (with out coxswain) pairs occasion and earned a bronze medal in coxed pairs.
Though by no means a classical rower, Redgrave generated huge energy from his 6-foot 5-inch (1.96-metre), 225-pound (102-kg) body and developed right into a intelligent tactician on the water, understanding instinctively when to dominate different crews and when to carry again. His first partnership with Holmes broke up amid some acrimony, however within the Oxford-educated Matthew Pinsent, eight years Redgrave’s junior, he discovered somebody who shared his urge for food for competitors. At the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Redgrave and Pinsent gained gold within the coxless pair occasion, they usually repeated their victory at Atlanta in 1996. Redgrave subsequently introduced his retirement from worldwide rowing however returned as soon as extra to win gold within the coxless fours occasion on the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
In addition to his Olympic success, Redgrave gained 9 world championship gold medals. Among his different honours have been a number of victories within the Henley Royal Regatta Diamond Sculls, and in 1986 he earned three Commonwealth Games gold medals, profitable the one sculls, coxless pairs, and coxed fours. He was knighted in 2001.