Matthew Pinsent
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Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent CBE (born 10 October, 1970) is a British rowing champion and four-time Olympic gold medallist.
Pinsent was born in Holt, Norfolk, England, and began rowing at Eton College. He began his international career at the Junior World Rowing Championships in 1987. He raced again in 1988, winning the junior coxless pairs with Tim Foster. After finishing school, Pinsent studied Geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford. He competed in three Boat Races, winning in 1990 and 1991 but unsuccessful in 1993 (when he was Boat Club President), having taken a year out in 1992 in order to concentrate on preparing for the Barcelona Olympics.
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 they won Olympic gold again as part of a coxless four with James Cracknell and Tim Foster.
Pinsent and Cracknell then formed a men's coxless pair and won the coxless and coxed pairs (with Neil Chugani 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 1991, 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 Zelezny. In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, Pinsent failed to secure re-election to the post, being replaced by Zelezny.
Pinsent purportedly has one of the highest VO2 maximums (Amount of Oxygen burned during exercise) ever recorded pulling in an astounding 8.5 litres of Oxygen per minute.
Pinsent announced his retirement from rowing on 30 November, 2004, and was made a Knight Bachelor in the New Year's Honours list announced on 31 December 2004.
He ran the Flora London Marathon on the 23rd April 2006, in four hours and 8 minutes, finishing over an hour behind his rowing team mate James Cracknell.
Achievements
- Olympic Medals: 4 Gold
- World Championship Medals: 10 Gold, 2 Bronze
- Thomas Keller Medal Outstanding International Rowing Career, Awarded by FISA
- Junior World Championship Medals: 1 Gold
- Blue Boat Appearances: 3 (2 wins)
Olympic Games
- 2004 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Steve Williams, Ed Coode)
- 2000 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Steve Redgrave)
- 1996 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1992 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
World Championships
- 2003 – 4th, Coxless Pair (with James Cracknell)
- 2002 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with James Cracknell)
- 2001 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with James Cracknell)
- 2001 – Gold, Coxed Pair (with James Cracknell, Neil Chugani)
- 1999 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Ed Coode, Steve Redgrave)
- 1998 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Steve Redgrave)
- 1997 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Steve Redgrave)
- 1995 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1994 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1993 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1991 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1990 – Bronze, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1989 – Bronze, Coxed Four (with Terry Dillon, Steve Turner, Gavin Stewart, Vaughn Thomas)
Junior World Championships
- 1988 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Tim Foster)
- 1987 – 4th, Eight
Bibliography
- A Lifetime in a Race (2004) ISBN 0091901499
See also
- Leander Club (member)
External links
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