Following her success at the Olympics in Rio, Scottish sportswoman Katherine Grainger is No. 1 Magazines’ Scot of the Week this week.
The 40-year-old rower, from Glasgow, is the “most decorated British female athlete of all time” after bringing home another Olympic medal. She, and rowing partner Victoria Thornley, narrowly missed out on the gold to Poland by less than a second! The silver medal she won with Victoria in the women’s double sculls was Katherine’s fifth! The rower will add this latest prize to her collection of medals back home, which include her gold from London 2012 and silvers from Beijing (2008), Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000).
For any athlete, a win at an Olympics is life-changing, but for Katherine and Victoria it was particularly emotional – as the pair were excluded from the original Team GB selection ahead of the Rio games, and there were rumours of a fall-out between Victoria and coach Paul Thompson.
After their win, Katherine admitted: “Obviously I don’t like leaving an Olympics without a medal so it was genuinely what we were aiming for, but there have been so many hard days in the last year or two when it seemed the furthest thing from reality that wouldn’t come away with anything.
“I’m very proud of the way Vicky and I have handled the last 12 months. I think we both knew were capable of one more outstanding performance and we could bring it in the Olympic final.”
And supporters took to social media to congratulate the pair, including four-time Olympic champion Matthew Pinsent who tweeted: “Brilliant brilliant brilliant. One of the most amazing @TeamGB stories this year. Thornley/Grainger silver.”
But it’s not just Olympic success that the Scot, who stands at over 6 foot tall, is famous for. She has also won world championship titles – six times! Proud Paul Thompson, who has been Katherine’s coach for 16 years, said: “What she’s done here and through her career is outstanding and full credit to her. She is a class act.”
Katherine, who was awarded a CBE for services to rowing in 2013, first took up rowing at University of Edinburgh when she was studying a law degree, she then went on to gain a Masters in Medical Law from University of Glasgow before qualifying with a PhD in Homicide from King’s College, London.
Article care of Scotland’s No. 1 Magazine