Sir Steve Redgrave

Sir Steve Redgrave is inspirational & motivational speaker and 5 times Olympic Gold Rowing Medalist.

The 23rd September 2000 was guaranteed a special place in the history of the Olympic Games, when Britain’s Sir Steve Redgrave won his FIFTH GOLD MEDAL in five successive Games – Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney. Redgrave’s feat is unique in the annals of Olympic endurance achievements and, in the words of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, “Raises Sir Steve Redgrave to the highest rank of Olympic participants.”

But even before the Sydney Games, Sir Steve Redgrave had already confirmed his status as Britain’s most successful Olympian and the world’s greatest ever oarsman.

In addition to his Olympic successes, and following four unbeaten seasons from 1993 to 1996, Steve (and partner Matthew Pinsent) won his NINTH World Championship GOLD in August 1999 in St Catherines, Canada. His previous World Championship Golds were in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998. He had also won many other honours in the sport over the previous eleven years, including the Henley Royal Regatta Diamond Sculls several times, the Silver Goblets a record seven times while in 1986 he became a Triple Commonwealth Gold Medallist at Edinburgh, winning the Single Scull, Coxless Pairs, and Coxed Four. Together with partner Matthew Pinsent, Steve broke the WORLD RECORD in Coxless Pairs in Lucerne in 1994 and the OLYMPIC RECORD, in Atlanta in 1996.

Perhaps even more impressive however than Redgrave’s extraordinary athletic performances themselves, is the fact that they were achieved against a background of serious illnesses. He nearly missed the Atlanta Games due to colitis, for which he still receives treatment, and in 1997 he was diagnosed as diabetic.

Sir Steve was knighted in the New Year’s Honours List 2000, which accompanies his MBE, he was awarded in the New Year’s Honours List in 1987 and the CBE in the New Year’s Honours List of 1997.

The Universities of Durham, Oxford Brookes, Loughborough, Hull, Buckingham and the Open University amongst others have also awarded him Honorary Degrees. Steve was appointed Vice-President of the British Olympic Association in November 2000 and was President of British Rowing from 2001 to 2015. Steve is also an Honorary Vice-President of Diabetes UK.

In 2001 Sir Steve set-up his charity – The Steve Redgrave Trust, aimed at raising £5 million over five years for children’s charities. In April 2006 at the London Marathon, he broke the record for the most money raised by an individual, a staggering £1.8million and in doing so broke the £5 million target he set himself. In February 2008 the charity was renamed the Steve Redgrave Fund, joining Sport Relief and became part of the Comic Relief family.

Sir Steve has published six books; his biography, “A Golden Age,” “You Can Win at Life”, “Enduring Success”, “Great Olympic Moments”, “The Complete Book of Rowing” and “Inspired”.

He also helped to set up Sport Relief. The idea was conceived in the lounge at his house with the then Chief Executive of Comic Relief Kevin Cahill. Steve is now a trustee of Comic Relief: An organisation that has raised hundreds of millions of pounds “Spending the money in the best possible way to tackle the root causes of poverty and social injustice.”

Steve became a recipient of the prestigious Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 and today sits on the Executive Committee working with Sport For Good, the Charitable organisation with a remit to prove that the power of sport can change the world and put an end to violence discrimination and disadvantage.

He is also Vice President of Sparks, President in 1997; Sparks aim to fund high quality medical research which advances clinical understanding and treatment of conditions affecting babies, children and mums-to-be

SPEAKING TOPICS 

Sir Steve Redgrave’s rowing achievements are highly documented. After spending nearly 25 years on the water and consistently dominating in the sport of rowing for two decades he has spent the last 18 years heavily involved in charity work and aiding companies to get more out of their staff by using him as an example of longevity, perseverance, always striving to achieve the next goal and due to Steve’s exceptional public image has made him an ideal celebrity for product endorsement and is a very popular keynote and motivational speaker.

Sir Steve is well known for his public appearances and has delivered keynote speeches at a great number of corporate events, conferences and public ceremonies as well as company internal programming events

Steve often prepares speeches to inspire the audience through telling his own story. His story not only highlights what it takes to be the best in the field, but is a truly emotive story of how Sir Steve has overcome adversity to achieve five Olympic Golds.

Steve delivers speeches focussing on teamwork, motivation, what it takes to succeed, the importance of preparation and overcoming obstacles and tailors them to fit in with the individual clients ideals and objectives.