every training session: “She didn’t conserve
power for the next session. And from the
moment that I had the first training session with
her, I knew she was one of the strongest rowers
of all. It was such a motivation to row with her
and when you could beat her, you knew that
was something special.”
>
Four-time Olympic Champion
Katrin Boron from Germany
competed at her fifth Olympic
Games in Beijing where she won
her fifth Olympic medal (bronze
in the women’s quadruple sculls)
at the age of 39.
Though Boron never quite managed to win a
world title in the single – just missing out to
Denmark’s Trine Hansen in 1994 – she recorded
a memorable win in the double three years
later at the World Rowing Championships in
Aiguebelette, when she came out of the double
scull to win a second gold in the quad.
That sense of self-belief readily translated itself to
others around her. She was not someone who
said much in races. Her input was made during
training and the pre-race chats. But you could
feel her presence in the boat. And if you were in
the same crew as her, you knew you had really
earned your place. The young German Olympian
Lenka Wech who trained with Boron in Potsdam
explains: “She asks a lot of herself and the others
around her. She was a real inspiration for any
young rower who trained with her.”
Boron is also seen as someone who always
had time for her fellow competitors, with a
smile, or encouraging comment, a woman
with remarkable consideration. After the epic
women’s quad Final at the Beijing Olympics,
the German quad was beaten by China and
Britain. FrancesHoughton, then one of the
closely beaten British crew members, explains:
“Even though Kathrin was gutted that her quad
could only take the bronze she managed to find
the time to look across at us, with a look that said
I feel for you too. To do that then was just amazing
and shows what kind of woman she is.”
Unsurprisingly, Boron’s experience was also put
to use as an athlete representative for the German
sculling squad. Though Boron has now hung up
her blades, she will always be close to the sport
and remain an immense figure in the history of
rowing.
Kathrin Boron is currently ranked at the top of the
World Rowing ‘s list of Top 10 female athletes for
2008
