One of the most famous sports personalities in the UK is a rower called ‘Steve Redgrave’. He won 5 gold medals in 5 Olympic games from 1984 - 2000. He is the UK’s greatest Olympic athlete.

Early life and starting to row

Steve was born in a town called Marlow outside London on the banks of the river Thames. He first started rowing when his English teacher asked his class if anyone wanted to try rowing, Steve thought he would prefer it to being in school. A few months later in Bristol, he won his first race and he was hooked.

Olympic success

Steve’s first Olympic games were in 1984 in Los Angeles where he won a gold medal in a four-man rowing race. From then on, until 2000, he and his team continued to dominate the sport of rowing and he won five gold medals in the five Olympics that he competed in.

What Steve does today

Steve officially retired from rowing in 2000 but that doesn’t mean he stopped working. He started a charity called The Steve Redgrave Fund which helps young people get fit and become interested in sport. So far, he has raised more than ￡5 million pounds for the charity. He also works with the British charity Sport Relief.

London 2012

Of course, Sir Steve has also been very involved with the London 2012 Olympics. He is an official ambassador to the UK team and will help mentor British athletes taking part in the Games. He is also the ‘Sports Legacy Champion’ and will help to make sure that people in the UK continue to be interested in sport and build on the Olympics after the Games have finished.

Why is he called ‘Sir’ Steve Redgrave?

The Queen of England gives special honours to people in the UK who do amazing things. She makes them ‘knights’ at a special ceremony and these people have the title ‘Sir’ before their name. Steve became Sir Steve in 2001.

小編：英國運動員史蒂芬·雷德格雷夫是歷史上最偉大的賽艇運動員，他是唯一一位在連續(xù)五屆奧運會上都奪取金牌的賽艇運動員：1984年美國洛杉磯夏季奧運會上，他奪取四人有舵賽艇金牌；1988年韓國漢城奧運會上，雷德格雷夫與安德魯合作奪得雙人單槳無舵賽艇金牌；1992年西班牙巴塞羅納奧運會上他們衛(wèi)冕成功；1996年美國亞特蘭大夏季奧運會比賽中，他們實現(xiàn)雙人單槳無舵賽艇奧運三連冠；在2000年澳大利亞悉尼夏季奧運會上，38歲的雷德格雷夫和隊友一起奪得四人無舵賽艇金牌，這也是他獲得的第五枚奧運金牌。從1996年到1999年間，雷德格雷夫在他參加的每一屆世界錦標賽中也都能奪取獎牌，他總共曾九次加冕世界冠軍。