Sporting Giants was a scheme launched by Sir Steve Redgrave on behalf of UK Sport in February 2007 to identify young people with the potential to display talent in sports such as handball, rowing and volleyball. Because tallness is considered a possible advantage in those sports a minimum height of 6’ 3” (190 cm) for men and 5’11 (180 cm) for women was specified. An age requirement of 16 to 25 was set and an athletic background was also sought. 4,800 applications were received for the scheme, 3,854 of which met the eligibility criteria.
Ten participants in the scheme were members of Team GB at the 2012 Summer Olympics and one of them was a medal winner: Helen Glover won gold in the women's coxless pairs rowing. She was a cross country runner, swimmer, hockey and tennis player but had no rowing experience prior joining the scheme in 2008. At 178 cm tall Glover did not meet the minimum height standard specified for the scheme but she stood on tiptoes when she was being measured at the selection event. Victoria Thornley finished fifth as a member of the women's eight rowing crew. Four male and two female participants in the scheme were members of the first handball teams ever fielded by the UK at an Olympic Games. The men's team included Bobby White, the team captain, who was a semi professional footballer before he applied. The teams lost all the matches in their groups, the men's team being defeated 44-15 in their opening match against France. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Dame Katherine Jane Grainger is a British former rower and current Chair of UK Sport. She is a 2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist and six-time World Champion. She served as Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University between 2015 and 2020, and is currently Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
Brian Price has been the Canadian coxswain of the men's eight since 2001. He was born in Belleville, Ontario. Price began rowing on the National Team in 1998 after graduating from Seneca College with a Civil Engineering Technology diploma. The first national team crew that he made was the 1998 development lightweight eight. He made the move to the heavyweight men's team in 1999 and competed at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg.
UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. British athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 310 competitors, 181 men and 129 women, took part in 179 events in 23 sports. These were the first Summer Olympics in which the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB in a highly successful attempt to unify all the competing athletes across all the sports and events and boost team morale. Going into the games following their exceptionally poor performance in Atlanta widespread expectations of the team were low.
The United Kingdom has been represented at every modern Olympic Games, and as of the 2020 Summer Olympics is third in the all-time Summer Olympic medal table by both number of gold medals won and overall number of medals. London has hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times: in 1908, 1948, and 2012.
Slovenia first participated as an independent nation at the Olympic Games at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, and the country has sent athletes to compete at every Games since then. The Slovenian Olympic Committee was established in 1991 and was recognised by the International Olympic Committee on 5 February 1992.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. Britain is one of only five NOCs to have competed in every modern Summer Olympic Games since 1896. The delegation of 547 people included 311 competitors – 168 men, 143 women – and 236 officials. The team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom including Northern Ireland. Additionally some British overseas territories compete separately from Britain in Olympic competition.
Kate Louise Richardson-Walsh, is an Olympic Gold and Bronze Medal winning English field hockey player. She was capped a record 375 times for her country and was the England and Great Britain Captain for 13 years.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012 as the host nation and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. British athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, alongside Australia, France and Greece, though Great Britain is the only one to have won at least one gold medal at all of them. London is the first city to host the Summer Olympics on three different occasions, having previously done so in 1908 and 1948. Soon, it will be joined by Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028 in hosting the Olympic Games for a third time. Team GB, organised by BOA, sent a total of 541 athletes, 279 men and 262 women, to the Games, and won automatic qualification places in all 26 sports.
Beth Rodford is a British rower. Rodford participated in two Olympic games, 2008 Summer in Beijing and 2012 Summer in London. At Beijing, she finished in fifth place in the Women's Eight. In 2012 at London, she finished in sixth position in the quadruple sculls. She announced her retirement from international rowing on 16 December 2015.
Helen Glover is a British professional rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team. Ranked the number 1 female rower in the world in 2015–16, she is a two-time Olympic champion, triple World champion, quintuple World Cup champion and quadruple European champion. She and her partner Heather Stanning were the World, Olympic, World Cup and European record holders, plus the Olympic, World and European champions in the women's coxless pairs. She has also been a British champion in both women's fours and quadruple sculls.
Heather Mary Stanning OBE is a retired British professional rower, a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team, and Royal Artillery officer. Ranked number 1 female rower in the world in 2016, she is a double Olympic champion, double World champion, quadruple World Cup champion and double European champion. As of May 2015, she and her partner Helen Glover were the World, Olympic, World Cup and European record holders, plus the reigning Olympic, World, and European champions in the women's coxless pairs. She has also been a British champion in both women's fours and quad sculls.
Jessica Jane Eddie is a British rower. She won a silver medal in the women's eight at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Robin Williams MBE is a Welsh professional rowing coach for Team GB. He represented Great Britain at six world championships, winning silver and bronze medals. He was coach to the Cambridge University Boat Club for 11 years winning seven Varsity Boat races. As of 2014 he is coach to the World record holders and the reigning Olympic, World, World Cup and European champions of the women's coxless pair, variously rowed by Helen Glover, Heather Stanning and Polly Swann, achieving an unbroken sequence of twelve gold medal victories at world level.
Mohamed Karim Sbihi is a British rower. He is a three-time Olympian and Olympic medal winner. He won a gold medal in the coxless four at 2016 Rio Olympics, and at the 2012 London Olympics he was in the British crew that won the bronze medal in the men's eight. He returned to the eight for the 2020 Tokyo games, again winning bronze.
Melanie Wilson is a British rower who competed for the GB rowing team. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in the Women's quadruple sculls. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she won a silver medal in the women's eight.
Victoria Thornley is a Welsh rower. She won a silver medal for Great Britain with Katherine Grainger in the women's double sculls at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the Great Britain team that finished fifth in the women's eight at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and finished fourth in the single sculls at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Polly Swann is a British rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team. She is a former World and European champion in the women's coxless pairs, having won the 2013 World Rowing Championships at Chungju in Korea, and the 2014 European Rowing Championships at Belgrade, Serbia with her partner Helen Glover. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she won a silver medal in the women's eight.
Great Britain, or in full Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016 and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. British athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, France, Greece, and Switzerland, though Great Britain is the only country to have won at least one gold medal at all of them. The team represented the United Kingdom, the three Crown Dependencies, and the thirteen British Overseas Territories, ten of whom sent representatives.
Great Britain, or in full Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the team of the British Olympic Association (BOA), which represents the United Kingdom, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.