Matthew Pinsent
Encyclopedia
Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent CBE (born 10 October 1970) is an English rower
and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic
gold medals, of which three were with Steve Redgrave
. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports broadcaster with the BBC
.
, his father being curate
of St Andrew's parish church. He attended Aysgarth School
in North Yorkshire before he began rowing at Eton College
. He began his international career at the Junior World Rowing Championships
in 1987. He raced again in 1988, winning the junior coxless pairs with Tim Foster
. After finishing school, Pinsent studied Geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford
. He competed in three Boat Races, winning in 1990 and 1991 but unsuccessful in 1993 (when he was Boat Club President), having taken a year out in 1992 in order to concentrate on preparing for the Barcelona Olympics.
in the coxless pair at the World Rowing Championships
– winning bronze. This was the beginning of a long partnership, and the pair won at the World Championships in 1991, and at the Olympic Games in 1992 and 1996.
In 2000 he won Olympic gold again as part of a coxless four with Redgrave, James Cracknell
and Tim Foster
. In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, he took part in a 3-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever
. This followed the coxless four team in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for what would be Pinsent's third consecutive gold.
Pinsent and Cracknell then formed a men's coxless pair and won the coxless and coxed pairs (with Neil Chugani coxing) in the 2001 World Championships, and the coxless pair in 2002. However, after a disappointing 2003 season that saw Pinsent's first World Championships defeat since 1990, he and Cracknell moved to the men's coxless four for 2004.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics
in Athens
, Pinsent's fourth Olympic Games, Pinsent stroked the boat, with Cracknell, Ed Coode
and Steve Williams
. In a close race with world champions Canada, they again won gold.
Pinsent was elected to the International Olympic Committee
's Athletics Commission in 2001, replacing Jan Železný
. In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, Pinsent failed to secure re-election to the post, being replaced by Železný.
The 6 in 5 in (1.96 m), 17 stones (108 kg) Pinsent had at one time the largest lung capacity recorded for a sportsman at 8.5 litres. This has since been surpassed by fellow rower Peter Reed
who has been measured at 9.38 litres.
in the New Year's Honours
list announced on 31 December 2004. He had already been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
in 1993, raised to Commander in 2001. He was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal
by the International Rowing Federation
in 2005.
as a sports bulletin presenter and reporter. His assignments have included interviewing Dwain Chambers
for Inside Sport
, where Chambers confessed to taking drugs, and visiting gymnastics training centre in China
where he found evidence of children being beaten, leading to IOC
President Jacques Rogge
to order an inquiry.
and thus from Edward I of England
and William the Conqueror.
He is married to Demetra; they have twin boys, Jonah and Lucas (born 2006) and a daughter, Eve (born 2008).
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gold medals, of which three were with Steve Redgrave
Steve Redgrave
Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals...
. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports broadcaster with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Background
Pinsent was born in Holt, NorfolkHolt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...
, his father being curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of St Andrew's parish church. He attended Aysgarth School
Aysgarth School
Aysgarth School is one of the leading boys' prep boarding schools in the UK. Aysgarth School is set in the foothills of the Yorkshire Dales near Bedale, North Yorkshire and is the only all-boys boarding and day prep school in the north of England. This independent school was founded in 1877 to...
in North Yorkshire before he began rowing at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. He began his international career at the Junior World Rowing Championships
Junior World Rowing Championships
The World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA . A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31st December of the year in which he reaches the age of 18. After that date, he shall be classified as an Under 23 rower...
in 1987. He raced again in 1988, winning the junior coxless pairs with Tim Foster
Tim Foster
Timothy "Tim" James Carrington Foster MBE is a British rower. He began rowing at Bedford Modern School and competed in the Junior World Rowing Championships in 1987 and 1988. In the latter he competed in a pair with a Matthew Pinsent. He became the first British rower to win gold medals at two...
. After finishing school, Pinsent studied Geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford
St Catherine's College, Oxford
St Catherine's College, often called Catz, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its motto is Nova et Vetera...
. He competed in three Boat Races, winning in 1990 and 1991 but unsuccessful in 1993 (when he was Boat Club President), having taken a year out in 1992 in order to concentrate on preparing for the Barcelona Olympics.
International career
In 1990, while still at Oxford, he joined Steve RedgraveSteve Redgrave
Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals...
in the coxless pair at the World Rowing Championships
World Rowing Championships
The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA . It is a week long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the international rowing calendar.The first event was held in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1962...
– winning bronze. This was the beginning of a long partnership, and the pair won at the World Championships in 1991, and at the Olympic Games in 1992 and 1996.
In 2000 he won Olympic gold again as part of a coxless four with Redgrave, James Cracknell
James Cracknell
James Cracknell, OBE is a British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist and adventurer. Cracknell is married to TV and radio presenter Beverley Turner; they have three children. In the New Year Honours List, 2004, he was appointed OBE for services to sport...
and Tim Foster
Tim Foster
Timothy "Tim" James Carrington Foster MBE is a British rower. He began rowing at Bedford Modern School and competed in the Junior World Rowing Championships in 1987 and 1988. In the latter he competed in a pair with a Matthew Pinsent. He became the first British rower to win gold medals at two...
. In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, he took part in a 3-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever
Gold Fever
Gold Fever was the name of a BBC documentary shown in August 2000, which followed Steve Redgrave and his coxless four team in the years leading up to the Sydney Olympics, where Redgrave was looking to claim his fifth consecutive gold medal...
. This followed the coxless four team in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for what would be Pinsent's third consecutive gold.
Pinsent and Cracknell then formed a men's coxless pair and won the coxless and coxed pairs (with Neil Chugani coxing) in the 2001 World Championships, and the coxless pair in 2002. However, after a disappointing 2003 season that saw Pinsent's first World Championships defeat since 1990, he and Cracknell moved to the men's coxless four for 2004.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Pinsent's fourth Olympic Games, Pinsent stroked the boat, with Cracknell, Ed Coode
Ed Coode
Ed Coode, MBE is a British rower, twice World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist.Educated at Papplewick School, Ascot, Eton College, University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Oxford University, where he attended Keble College and rowed in the Oxford crew at the 1998 Boat Race.Coode won his first World...
and Steve Williams
Steve Williams (rower)
Stephen David Williams OBE is an English rower and double Olympic champion.In April and May 2011, Steve will be taking part in Richard Parks'...
. In a close race with world champions Canada, they again won gold.
Pinsent was elected to the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
's Athletics Commission in 2001, replacing Jan Železný
Jan Železný
Jan Železný is a Czech javelin thrower, world and Olympic champion and world record holder in javelin throw...
. In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, Pinsent failed to secure re-election to the post, being replaced by Železný.
The 6 in 5 in (1.96 m), 17 stones (108 kg) Pinsent had at one time the largest lung capacity recorded for a sportsman at 8.5 litres. This has since been surpassed by fellow rower Peter Reed
Peter Reed (rower)
Peter Reed MBE is a British Olympic rower. Reed has achieved two gold medals and two silver medals in the World Championships, and in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he earned a gold medal in the Men's coxless four.- Biography :Reed was born in Seattle, but his family moved to England several months...
who has been measured at 9.38 litres.
Retirement
Pinsent announced his retirement from rowing on 30 November 2004, and was made a Knight BachelorKnight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in the New Year's Honours
British honours system
The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories...
list announced on 31 December 2004. He had already been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1993, raised to Commander in 2001. He was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal
Thomas Keller Medal
The Thomas Keller Medal is given by the International Rowing Federation for an outstanding international career in the sport of rowing. It is the highest honor in rowing and is awarded to any athlete within five years of his/her retirement from the sport...
by the International Rowing Federation
International Rowing Federation
The Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron, or FISA for short, is the International Rowing Federation which is the governing body for international Rowing. Its current president is Denis Oswald...
in 2005.
Olympic Games
- 2004 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James CracknellJames CracknellJames Cracknell, OBE is a British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist and adventurer. Cracknell is married to TV and radio presenter Beverley Turner; they have three children. In the New Year Honours List, 2004, he was appointed OBE for services to sport...
, Steve WilliamsSteve Williams (rower)Stephen David Williams OBE is an English rower and double Olympic champion.In April and May 2011, Steve will be taking part in Richard Parks'...
, Ed CoodeEd CoodeEd Coode, MBE is a British rower, twice World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist.Educated at Papplewick School, Ascot, Eton College, University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Oxford University, where he attended Keble College and rowed in the Oxford crew at the 1998 Boat Race.Coode won his first World...
) - 2000 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim FosterTim FosterTimothy "Tim" James Carrington Foster MBE is a British rower. He began rowing at Bedford Modern School and competed in the Junior World Rowing Championships in 1987 and 1988. In the latter he competed in a pair with a Matthew Pinsent. He became the first British rower to win gold medals at two...
, Steve RedgraveSteve RedgraveSir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals...
) - 1996 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1992 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
World Championships
- 2003 – 4th, Coxless Pair (with James Cracknell)
- 2002 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with James Cracknell)
- 2001 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with James Cracknell)
- 2001 – Gold, Coxed Pair (with James Cracknell, Neil Chugani)
- 1999 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Ed Coode, Steve Redgrave)
- 1998 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Steve Redgrave)
- 1997 – Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Tim Foster, Steve Redgrave)
- 1995 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1994 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1993 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1991 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1990 – Bronze, Coxless Pair (with Steve Redgrave)
- 1989 – Bronze, Coxed Four (with Terry DillonTerry DillonTerry Dillon was a defensive back in the National Football League. Dillon played with the Minnesota Vikings during the 1963 NFL season. He had also been drafted in the eighteenth round of the 1963 American Football League Draft by the Oakland Raiders....
, Steve Turner, Gavin Stewart, Vaughn Thomas)
Junior World Championships
- 1988 – Gold, Coxless Pair (with Tim Foster)
- 1987 – 4th, Eight
Broadcasting career
Since retiring from rowing, Pinsent has worked for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
as a sports bulletin presenter and reporter. His assignments have included interviewing Dwain Chambers
Dwain Chambers
Dwain Anthony Chambers is an English sprinter of Afro-Caribbean descent. He has won medals on the international stage numerous times and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of recorded athletics. His primary event is the 100 metres sprint, in which he has the second...
for Inside Sport
Inside Sport (TV series)
Inside Sport is a weekly sports magazine programme produced by BBC Sport. The programme is transmitted twice a week, with an extended edition broadcast at Sunday lunch-time. It is presented by Gabby Logan. The programme combines mainstream sporting issues with topics that may not be widely known to...
, where Chambers confessed to taking drugs, and visiting gymnastics training centre in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
where he found evidence of children being beaten, leading to IOC
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
President Jacques Rogge
Jacques Rogge
Jacques Rogge, Count Rogge , is a Belgian sports bureaucrat. He is the eighth and current President of the International Olympic Committee .-Life and career:...
to order an inquiry.
Personal life and genealogy
Pinsent is directly descended from John Howard, 1st Duke of NorfolkJohn Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman, soldier, and the first Howard Duke of Norfolk...
and thus from Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and William the Conqueror.
He is married to Demetra; they have twin boys, Jonah and Lucas (born 2006) and a daughter, Eve (born 2008).
Styles and honours
- Mr Matthew Pinsent (1970–1993)
- Mr Matthew Pinsent MBE (1993–2000)
- Mr Matthew Pinsent CBE (2000–2004)
- Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE (2004–)
External links
- Official website
- Matthew Pinsent at RowingOne