Sir Steve Redgrave - Guest Star

It's been nine years since I last rowed a race in anger, the 2000 Sydney Olympics coxless fours final, and while it's nice that I am remembered for my five gold medals, and the fact that I continue to be busy in a host of projects, I am also aware of speaking at schools where the kids have no idea who the big man standing in front of them is.

Time waits for no-one, which is how it should be, of course. I'm immensely proud of my achievements. When I reflect on them I understand how it all happened but sometimes, even now, I struggle to believe it was me who did it.

But now others are queuing up to match and even surpass what I achieved, notably Sir Chris Hoy who appears to be still on top form and needs one more gold medal in London 2012 to equal my five golds. With the silver he also has that would make him Britain 's most successful Olympian. Good luck to him, although I do feel it is not all about the stats.

For example, I was at the velodrome in Beijing last year watching Bradley Wiggins lead the team pursuit and I was blown away by the performance. I tried to keep a low profile and hid myself in the corner but the media spotted me and, understandably, wanted to know my opinion of what had just taken place. Bradley took two golds in China , which means three golds in total and six Olympic medals over three Games, which is outstanding.

For me the other major star British performer is Ben Ainslie whose achievements, in my opinion, have been overshadowed. I think this is tough because Ben has won a silver medal and then three consecutive golds in four Games, and could well win again in London . Longevity, as I well know, tests an athlete to the core, and that is why Ben Ainslie is up there with the true greats of British sport.

Studying other sports stars is something I've been doing a lot of recently whilst writing a book called "Inspired," which has just been published. In it I get to talk to some of the true greats in global sport over the past few decades and attempt to make connections and comparisons between them in analysing why and how they achieved.

So, for example, Sir Bobby Charlton, whom I've got to know well on the golf circuit, talks about how he was born lucky due to the genes in his family that meant his uncle was the famous Newcastle footballer, Jackie Milburn. Seb Coe explains how he got his big chance on a BBC televised race back in the late 1970's only because someone dropped out of a race at the eleventh hour. He went on to win the race, of course, and that put him in the limelight which, in turn, presented him with more opportunities to shine.

When it comes to self-belief no two are better examples than Muhammad Ali and Brian Clough. I was there in Atlanta in 1996 when Ali was asked to light the Olympic flame in the stadium and, like everyone else, I was concerned about his health as he climbed the steps holding the lit torch. True to form he managed it with aplomb and remains arguably the greatest sportsman of the last century. Clough, of course, was not everyone's cup of tea, but few in football don't believe he was one of the finest managers of all time, and the best manager England never had.

Preparation's an interesting area, too. Tiger Woods' father, Earl, used to make noises behind him while Tiger was swinging his club which is one of the reasons why Tiger is so unflappable now. John Naber is a particularly good example, someone you may not have heard of, but an Olympic legend. The American swimmer took four golds at the 1976 Montreal Games, but only after failing four years earlier in Munich . After the 1972 Games he predicted he would need to improve in the 100 metres backstroke by a massive four seconds to become Olympic champion four years' later. This is precisely what happened, in exactly the time he had visualised.

The more I delved into great sportsmen the more I felt put in my place. I was a good rower, but I didn't have anything named after me like Dick Fosbury, the American high jumper. And yes, I had a few medical problems along the way which hindered me a little. Obviously it wasn't to my advantage being diabetic, or suffering from Ulcerative Colitis as I did before Barcelona in 1992. But then you talk to Lance Armstrong and when it sinks in that he was given a 4% chance of survival after being ravaged by cancer, then you wonder why you were moaning at all about your lot.

It's been an interesting experience researching and indeed writing the book and I hope you enjoy reading it.   

Participation is now a thing of the past. I rowed in some vets competitions two years ago and although I realised I hadn't missed the racing I was surprised how much fun I had in terms of the camaraderie and banter.

I may have rowed again this year but I broke my leg earlier in the year when I slipped down a three foot grassy bank at the London Golf Club in Kent . My right ankle was in plaster for six weeks and it's only been this week that the swelling has finally disappeared. As a result I put on a fair bit of weight. My fighting weight was always 17 and a half stone when I was rowing but I shot up to 20 stone and have so far lost a stone.

It doesn't seem to have impacted on my golf, though. I played at the Alfred Dunhill Links the other week alongside a young pro on the European Tour called Chris Wood who, the last time I looked, was ranked 38^th. I played some of the best shots of my life both on the Old Course at St Andrews , and at Kingsbarns, although my old rowing partner Matt Pinsent did better as a team, just missing the cut. There's still a competitive edge there between us both, believe me.

Elsewhere I'm involved in a number of projects, notably Comic Relief, of which I am a trustee. I helped set up Sport Relief and I've been on a couple of trips recently to South Africa and Zambia , hit hard by aids and very humbling to witness. I've also seen some of the projects we're involved with in the UK, such as the Bridge Project in London , which provides safehouses for victims of bullying.

On top of this I'm an ambassador for a number of other projects, such as the My Place Scheme in which kids are encouraged and funded by Government to have their say and even give presentations in terms of the design and structure of facilities, the VISA mentoring programme for 2012 athletes, and a role looking at the legacy of 2012. Then there's my own clothing brand, "FiveG," in which items of clothing are made with fair-trade cotton and sold in Debenhams. With all this, plus my motivational speaking and my TV punditry role with the BBC, life remains incredibly fulfilling.

So much so, in fact, that I can make you a promise I once broke, but never will again. You won't be seeing me back in a boat, so there's no need to shoot me!

"Inspired" is out now, published by Headline.      

Comments