Alex Story (born 6 December 1974) [1] is a British former rower and Conservative Party politician. He rowed in the British men's eight at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. [2]
Story was on the Great Britain rowing team for the 1996 Summer Olympics, competing in the men's eight. [3]
He rowed for Great Britain as a junior, an under-23 and a senior athlete. His career spanned from 1992 to 1998.
In 1995, at the World Rowing Championships in Tampere, Finland, he qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He retained his place for the 1997 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette where the British eight finished fourth. [4]
He rowed for Cambridge against Oxford in the Boat Races of 1997 [5] and 1998. [6] In the former he was the heaviest man competing and was credited [7] with having been the difference between the two crews. He was described as a hero by coach, Harry Mahon. [8] His 1998 crew set the course record. [9]
A back injury ended his rowing career.[ citation needed ]
He has subsequently been active in the Conservative Party. In 2005, he contested Denton and Reddish [10] at the General Election; in 2010, he fought Wakefield, [11] and in 2015, at short notice, he stood for Leeds North West.
He was placed second on the Conservative party list for the Yorkshire and the Humber region at the 2014 European Election; [12] however, only one Conservative was elected. [13] After the elevation of Timothy Kirkhope MEP to the House of Lords in October 2016, Story was asked by the region's returning officer to take the vacant seat. [14] To be returned, Story needed the Conservative Party to re-nominate him, which they refused to do; Story unsuccessfully asked the High Court to intervene. [15] The Conservative Party subsequently appointed John Procter, who had been third on the party list, as the replacement, rather than Story. [16] [17]
In the 2016 European Union membership referendum he campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union. [18] [19]
He was one of the founders of Story Productions, [20] a media production company that still operates today.[ citation needed ]
Story has written for publications such as The Daily Telegraph , [21] and City A.M. . [22]
On 5 November 2017, the Conservative MP for Tamworth, Chris Pincher, resigned as Comptroller of the Household (Assistant Whip) and voluntarily referred himself to the Conservative Party's complaints procedure and the police after Story said that he was previously the subject of unwanted sexual advances from Pincher. Pincher allegedly invited Story to his flat, where Pincher massaged Story's neck and talked about his "future in the Conservative Party", before changing into a bathrobe. Recounting the episode, Story said that Pincher's advances made him seem like a "pound-shop Harvey Weinstein". [lower-alpha 1] [23] Pincher said that "I do not recognise either the events or the interpretation placed on them" and that "if Mr Story has ever felt offended by anything I said then I can only apologise to him". [23] On 23 December 2017, the Conservative Party's investigating panel determined that Pincher had not breached the code of conduct. [24]
Story is married and has four children.[ citation needed ]
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars—one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation and previously known as FISA, is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who succeeded Denis Oswald at a ceremony held in Lucerne in July 2014.
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