Date of Birth: 23.3.1962 Nationality: British
Height: 6'5"
Marital Status: Married
Children: 2 girls and 1 boy
Interests: Golf and Winter Sports
The Career: A Summary
A lot has happened for Steve since winning his fifth gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Despite the earlier famous request to "shoot me if you see me in a boat again" in Atlanta, Sydney was the end of a long and extraordinary career in competitive sport that resulted in Steve winning an unprecedented five Gold Medals in consecutive Olympic games.
Gold for the Coxed Fours in Los Angeles in 1984, followed by Gold with his previous partner Andy Holmes in the Coxless Pairs at Seoul in 1988, Gold with partner Matthew Pinsent for the Coxless Pairs at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and of course, the famous win in the Coxless Fours at the Sydney Olympics.
In addition to his Olympic successes and following four unbeaten seasons from 1993 to 1996, Steve won his ninth World Championship Gold in August 1999 in St Catherines, Canada. His previous World Championship Golds were in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998.
Key achievements
He has also won many other honours in the sport over the past eleven years, including the Henley Royal Regatta Diamond Sculls several times and the Silver Goblets a record seven times. In 1986 Steve became a Triple Commonwealth Gold Medallist at Edinburgh, winning the Single Scull, Coxless Pairs, and Coxed Four. His other sporting interests include golf and winter sports, and during the 1989/90 season, he was a member of the British Bobsleigh Team.
Together with partner Matthew Pinsent, Steve was the holder of the World Record in Coxless Pairs set in Lucerne in 1994 until 2002 and still retains the Olympic Record, set in Atlanta in 1996. Steve and Matt enjoyed an exclusive sponsorship deal with Lombard, which allowed them to devote all their time to training for international regattas and to winning more honours for Great Britain.
Already established as the world's most outstanding rower of all time after his Atlanta victory, Steve announced in 1997 that he had decided to carry on competing through to the Millennium Games in Sydney in the hope of winning a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal - a feat which has confirmed him as one of the greatest athletes in Olympic history.
The Knighthood
Steve was awarded the MBE in the New Year's Honours List in 1987 and the CBE in the New Year's Honours List of 1997 and following his success in Sydney was awarded a Knighthood in the 2001 New Years Honours List. The University of Durham also awarded him an Honorary Degree in December 1996.
