If you follow Strictly Come Dancing you might have heard of James Cracknell as being voted out in the first week of the competition – but if you row or keep up with rowing you would know what an inspiration he is! At the age of 47 he has been in the sport for some time, achieving 8 gold medals representing Britain – 6 at world championships and 2 Olympic gold medals. He started rowing at Kingston Grammar School, not too far from Wimbledon, and won the junior championships at the age of 18. His countless medals however are not what make him so inspirational.
On 20 July 2010, Cracknell suffered a hit from behind by a petrol tanker whilst cycling during an attempt to cycle, row, run and swim from Los Angeles to New York within 18 days. The brain injury altered his life completely, leaving him with epilepsy and a changed personality – but less than six months after he competed in the 430 mile long Yukon Arctic Ultra finishing second. I find his rapid recovery extremely inspirational and reveals what a true sports person mentality he has.
He then famously competed in the boat race in April of this year for Cambridge at the age of 46. This makes him the oldest competitor and winner in the event’s history by 10 years.
There are so many other things that make him one of my biggest role models, such as competing in other gruelling competitions (such as The Race Across the Atlantic which is known as the toughest row in the world) and numerous charitable activities that he has taken part in. However his tenacious and diligent attitude to sport is what inspires me the most, and what all athletes should take from his story.
He famously said in one of his interviews; ‘four years of emotion went into those six minutes out there’ and personally I think this sums up rowing, and sport in general pretty well!
Written by: Amy – Rowing Rep