| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 July 1994 Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Education | University of Birmingham [1] |
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) [2] |
| Weight | 84 kg (185 lb) [3] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Rowing |
| Club | Molesey Boat Club [2] |
Peter Purcell-Gilpin (born 4 July 1994) is a Zimbabwean rower who competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Purcell-Gilpin was born into a family of farmers in Zimbabwe. [4] He suffered from a muscular condition that left him unable to play sports by the age of 10 because he couldn't control his shaking legs. [2] He was told by doctors that he would likely lose his ability to use them, but his condition soon began to improve. [2]
Purcell-Gilpin started rowing in 2007, [2] and served as captain of the rowing club during his time at St. George's College in Harare. [5] He competed at the 2012 World Rowing Junior Championships held in Bulgaria, where he finished 16th out of 33 competitors in the single sculls event, [6] and was subsequently named the 2013 Junior Sportsperson of the Year. [2]
Purcell-Gilpin competed at the collegiate level while attending the University of Birmingham in England. [7] Together with his partner William White, they became the first pair from the school to ever medal at a British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) event when they won a silver at the 2017 BUCS Regatta. [8] They also won a gold medal in the men’s double scull event at the 2017 European Universities Rowing Championships held in Serbia. [7]
Purcell-Gilpin debuted at the senior international level in 2013. [9] He competed at his first World Championships in 2015, placing 31st overall in the single sculls. [9] With a fourth-place finish at the 2015 African Olympic Qualification Regatta in the men’s single sculls, Purcell-Gilpin qualified Zimbabwe to be represented in this boat class at the 2016 Summer Olympics. [10] However, he lost his seat to Andrew Peebles during the national selection trials and instead served as an alternate while Peebles competed in the Rio Games. [11]
In 2019, Purcell-Gilpin placed second in the single sculls event at the African Olympic Qualification Regatta in Tunisia to secure Zimbabwe's spot at the 2020 Summer Olympics. [12] A few days later he won a bronze medal at the African Championships, also held in Tunisia. [2] [11] The national selection trials, originally scheduled for April 2020, were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [1] While in quarantine, he placed second at the inaugural African Indoor Championships in the men's open 2000m race and was able to qualify for the inaugural World Virtual Indoor Championships. [13] In June 2021, Purcell-Gilpin was finally confirmed by the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee as one of the five athletes selected to the delayed Tokyo Olympics – their smallest team in history. [1] [14] He shared flagbearer duties with 17-year-old swimmer Donata Katai. [15]
Purcell-Gilpin earned his BSc in geology and physical geography from the University of Birmingham and is currently studying towards his PhD at the same institution. [16] He works as a freelance artist to fund his rowing career, [2] and raised over $7,000 on GoFundMe to cover his training costs ahead of the 2020 Olympics. [17]
Purcell-Gilpin married two-time Olympic rower Micheen Thornycroft in 2019 after years of serving as training partners. [18]
Olympia Aldersey is an Australian rower. She is an Australian national champion, a dual Olympian and was a 2019 World Champion in the coxless four. In 2014 she set a world's fastest ever time (6:37.31) in a women's double scull over 2000m, a record which has stood since. She rowed in the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Damir Martin is a Croatian rower. He is a three-time Olympic medallist and won silver medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, and a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics. Martin is also a two-time world champion, a two-time European champion, and a twelve-time World Rowing Cup champion. He won the gold medal at the World U23 Championships in 2009 and 2010. Martin is currently a member of rowing club VK Croatia, and has previously been a member of clubs Zagreb and Trešnjevka.
Emma Kimberley Twigg is a New Zealand rower. A single sculler, she was the 2014 world champion and won gold in her fourth Olympics in Tokyo in July 2021. Previous Olympic appearances were in 2008, 2012, and 2016. She has retired from rowing twice, first for master-level studies in Europe in 2015 and then after the 2016 Olympics, disappointed at having narrowly missed an Olympic medal for the second time. After two years off the water, she started training again in 2018 and won silver at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. Since her marriage in 2020, she has become an outspoken advocate for LGBT athletes. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Twigg won gold in the woman's single scull. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Twigg won Silver in the same event.
Kjetil Borch is a Norwegian rower. He is a two-time Olympic medallist and won the silver medal in the single sculls at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in the double sculls at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Borch is also a two-time world champion and a European champion (2018). He is a four-time Olympian and competed at the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.
Sanita Pušpure is a Latvian-born Irish professional rower. She was a back-to-back world champion in the women's single scull winning her title at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv and defending it at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Ottensheim. She initially competed for Latvia at a junior level, but she moved to Ireland in 2006 and began competing for her adopted country in 2010, before gaining full Irish nationality in 2011. She was selected as the sole rowing competitor for Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she did not win a medal. In May 2016, she qualified for the Women's single sculls at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Sanita is now head coach of UCC Rowing Club in Cork, Ireland.
Micheen Barbara Thornycroft, is a Zimbabwean female rower. Born in Harare, she competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics in the single scull events for the national team.
James Fraser-Mackenzie is a Zimbabwean rower who competes primarily in the single sculls. Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, Fraser-Mackenzie started his sporting career as a middle-distance runner, and won junior cross-country events until he became more passionate with rowing. He is previously a member of St. George's College Boat Club, and trained at the Leander Club in Remenham.
Paul O'Donovan is an Irish lightweight rower. He is a double Olympic champion in the lightweight double sculls where he set a new world's best time for that event and is a seven-time world champion in single and double sculls.
Brooke Francis is a New Zealand rower. She has twice won the world championship in the double scull alongside Olivia Loe, is the incumbent world champion, and won a silver medal in this class at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with rowing partner Hannah Osborne, followed by a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Lucy Spoors. As of 2021, she has won ten premier national rowing championships.
Alexander (Steve) Purnell is an Australian rower. He is an Olympic and national champion who has represented at underage and senior world championships. In 2018 in an Australian eight, he won the Grand Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. He rowed in the bow seat of the Australian men's coxless four to a gold medal victory at the Tokyo Olympics.
Peter Frederick Edwards is an Australian former representative rower. A national champion sculler, he competed in the men's single sculls event at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Luke Letcher is an Australian representative rower - a national champion, an underage world champion and an Olympian. He won a world title at the 2016 World Rowing U23 Championships in Australia's U23 quad scull. He raced in the Australian men's quad scull at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to a bronze medal.
The men's single sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 23 to 30 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 32 rowers from 32 nations competed.
The women's single sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 23 to 30 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 32 rowers from 32 nations competed.
Cris Marasigan Nievarez is a Filipino rower who competes for the Philippines in international rowing competition. He has qualified to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Trevor Jones is a Canadian rower. He was born in Pointe-Claire, Quebec and his hometown was Lakefield, Ontario. Jones is a two time World U23 champion in the single sculls event.
Hannah Osborne is a New Zealand rower. A member of the national squad, she qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. In a surprise move, she was selected in the double scull alongside Brooke Donoghue, displacing the reigning twice world champion Olivia Loe. Osborne and Donoghue raced to a silver medal in Tokyo.
Tom Mackintosh is a New Zealand rower. He is currently a single sculler, and is the reigning world bronze medal holder, a feat achieved in his debut season in the class. Mackintosh is also a reigning olympic champion, but in the sweep discipline, having won a gold medal in the eight in his Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Off the water, Mackintosh is also a public speaker and entrepreneur.
The rowing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris ran from 27 July to 3 August at the Stade nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne, National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France in Vaires-sur-Marne. The number of rowers competing across fourteen gender-based categories at these Games was reduced from 526 to 502, with an equal distribution between men’s and women’s events. Despite the slight changes in athlete figures, the rowing program for Paris 2024 remained constant from the previous edition as the competition featured an equal number of categories for men and women, with seven each.
