Ringing in the Olympics: Steve Redgrave

Much as I enjoyed the Sydney Olympics, they were something of a bittersweet experience for me as, during the second week, I was due to take my first significant steps out of the family nest for my gap-year in Bolivia. To give me a decent send-off, our parents booked a few nights in one of our favourite cottages up in Dornoch.

I well remember that Friday night when my brother and I stayed up long after the rest had turned in, to watch this man make Olympic history. And yet, he so very nearly didn’t. As a seasoned Manchester United supporter, I’d been used to last-minute drama, but hadn’t seen anything quite like this.

Naturally, there was a clamour in the aftermath to unofficially crown Redgrave the Greatest Olympian in History. Well, three others have actually managed the same feat of striking gold at five consecutive Games. And, of course, Chris Hoy, in the coming days, could overtake Redgrave’s haul. But to do it consistently over two decades in a sport that inherently prohibits multiple medal attempts in one staging, (not to mention while battling severe illness) is, for me, the greater achievement. He is, for my money, Britain’s greatest Olympian.