Sir Steve Redgrave
Tea Kookmaa
Tallinn English College
Introduction

Sir Stephen Geoffrey
Redgrave was born on
23 March 1962, in
Marlow, England. He is
an English rower who
won gold medals at five
consecutive Olympic
Games from 1984 to
2000, three
Commonwealth Games
gold medals and nine
World Rowing
Championships gold
medals.
Achievements

Sir Redgrave’s 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
(starboard and port). 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 Wingfield Sculls
five times between 1985 and
1989, 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.
Achievements
Sir Redgrave was an
outstanding competitor at
Henley Royal Regatta over
twenty years. He won the
Silver Goblets and Nickalls’
Cup for coxless pairs seven
times, the Stewards’
Challange Cup for coxless
fours five times, the Diamond
Challange Sculls twice, the
Double Sculls Challange Cup
once (with Eric Sims) and the
Queen Mother Challange Cup
for quadruple sculls once.
Challenges
One of the reasons why Sir Steve Redgrave can be
considered Britain’s greatest Olympian is due to having
been successful despite several challenges.

For much of his career, Redgrave battled against severe
illnesses.

He has fought against lifelong dyslexia. In 1992, he was
diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Despite that, he had
continued to train for a considerable time prior to
diagnosis. In late 1997, diabetes was added to his list of
ailments.
Medals and awards



14 total Olympic and
World Championship gold
medals
The Most Excellent Order
of the British Empire in
1987 (member MBE) and
CBE (commander) in
1997
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
1996 - Winner of UK
Celebrity Gladiators
2000 - BBC Sports
Personality of the Year
Appearances in public
Now off the water, in addition to
maintaining a busy schedule as an afterdinner and motivational speaker, Steve is
absorbed in commericial projects, his
range of Fairtrade menswear, and
mentoring his TeamVisa hopefuls as they
progress towards their target of competing
in the 2012 London Olympics.
Charity

He also starred in Top Gear Ground Force for Sport Relief
in 2008, where the Top Gear Team took on Ground Force
with predictable results, and trashed his garden.

Steve has also launched his own Fairtrade Cotton Brand
of Clothing called FiveG which is sold in Debenhams
department stores. Sir Steve is committed to providing a
better deal for the Third World through both his FiveG
clothing range and the Sir Steve Redgrave Charity Trust.
The Steve Redgrave Fund
When setting up his own
charity, Redgrave wanted to
target social problems
affecting many children
today, concentrating on the
problems of social
exclusion, low confidence
and obesity. It does this
through child involvement in
sport, sharing funds with
Sport Relief. He set the
Fund up because, in his
own words, “when I retired
I wanted to make quite a
big impact.”
The success of the Steve
Redgrave Fund has been
extremely encouraging.
“We’re six and a half years
into it now, and we’ve
raised over five and a half
million.” This exceeds the
five million pound target set
by Sir Steve himself. The
effects have been very
encouraging, and the Fund
has “supported over 400
community based projects.”
Redgrave describes the
whole experience as “very
rewarding.”
The End
It's not always a bed of roses, but the blend of characters makes the
strength of the team.
-Sir Steve Redgrave