Having taken up rowing in 1993 while studying at the University of Edinburgh, Katherine showed a passion and strength for rowing which quickly saw her dominate the competition. By 1995 she was elected President of the Edinburgh University Boat Club and she won the Sports Union's Female Athlete of the Year both in 1995/96 and 1996/97.
Soon she attracted the attention of the Great British team, and she first competed in the World Championship in 1997, winning a bronze medal in the women's eight rowing final. She branched out to compete in the single, double and quadruple skulls, as well as the coxless pair and she soon added Olympic glory to her resume.
She first tasted silver at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney as part of the quadruple skulls team and never looked back. Having won an Olympic medal in five separate Games, Katherine's influence on rowing has been massive. She won silver in the coxless pair in Athens in 2004 before adding silver in quadruple sculls four years later in Beijing. She also added six World Championship gold's to her name before London 2012.
Her crowning achievement was to be her performance at London 2012. After breaking the Olympic record alongside Anna Watkins in the double sculls, the duo made the final. They then won Olympic gold in front of a home crowd, ensuring their place in the history books. Finally, Katherine topped off her career with a silver medal in the double sculls at Rio 2016, to draw a line under a remarkable sporting career.
Her determination to win set the backdrop to consistently challenge at the forefront of rowing. And she has continued to make a lasting impression since retiring from the sport. She was appointed the chair of UK Sport in 2017 and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2017 for her services to sport and charity to add to her MBE and CBE for her services to rowing.
A top-level competitor with an elite mindset, Katherine Grainger is ideal for speaking about peak performance in sport, maximising success and the Olympic Games. You can book her to engage audiences at your sporting and corporate events today.
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