says there was already talk of Cracknell and
Pinsent returning to a four. Redgrave admits,
“I seriously thought about giving it a go.”
Redgrave was serious enough that he talked
it over with his former coach and Great
Britain’s current head coach, Juergen Grobler.
“We both decided it wasn’t a wise thing to
do. This is the only time that I have had any
inclination to come out of retirement.”
Looking back Redgrave talks about the
double-edged sword of being an athlete.
Retiring meant having some flexibility with
his time. As an athlete Redgrave never took
a break from the sport. He was given three
weeks every year after the World Rowing
Championships or Olympic Games. Now,
Redgrave says, he can enjoy some flexibility
around his work and when he chooses to
take time off. But Redgrave says he misses
the routine of his former life. “The grass isn’t
always greener on the other side,” he admits.
5
© 2002 Getty Images/Christopher Lee
Retirement, says Redgrave, did not come
easily. He had spent 25-plus years solely
rowing and earning close to no money.
Redgrave had to start his post-rowing
career from scratch and he says he started
off with a vague idea of finding some kind
of business. But instead, the work came to
him and it came thick and fast. Redgrave was
in huge demand as a motivational speaker,
especially by companies wanting to inspire
their employees. He also got asked to do
media work and had a biography nearing
completion.
Sir Steve Redgrave posing
beside a sculpture of himself
at the River and Rowing
Museum in Henley-on-Thames,
Great Britain.
“For the first 18 months following Sydney I
was very busy,” says Redgrave. He still finds it
hard to really describe what kind of business
he does. “I guess you’d call me a personality,
a celebrity of some sorts.” Eight years on, the
work continues to flow in.
In retrospect Redgrave concludes that it
takes about four years to get rowing out
of your system. Redgrave reflected on this
as he attended the Beijing Olympics as a
rowing expert and media specialist. It was
his second Olympics that he had attended
as a non-competitor. “I was with Matthew
(Pinsent) and I said, ‘Now you know what it
feels like four years on’.” Pinsent, a four-time
Olympic gold medallist, was going through
the feelings that come with being at his first
Olympics as a non-competitor. “You need
four years to get it out of your system,” says
Redgrave. “Eight years on you definitely have
closure.”
Only once has Redgrave had a twinge to come
out of retirement. It happened in 2003 after
his former teammates James Cracknell and
Matthew Pinsent came fourth in the men’s pair
at the World Rowing Championships. Within
10 minutes of the race finishing, Redgrave
