Helen Glover: Rio 2016 Olympic success was so much more special than London 2012

Kicking on: Helen Glover says a semi-final wobble motivated her ahead of the final
(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Helen Glover23 August 2016

Rowing: women’s pair gold

How does it feel to be Olympic champion?

Just great — the whole experience has been great — and the messages of congratulations keep on coming from people.

How does it compare to winning in 2012?

I didn’t enjoy London in the same way. I’d convinced myself so much beforehand that it was just another race that I really believed that, even in the aftermath. It was hard work to convince myself that it was actually something quite special. I didn’t know what being an Olympic champion really meant then. To do it again has been so much more special and so much more enjoyable.

In Pictures: Team GB's medal run at Rio 2016 Olympics

1/67

After a five-year unbeaten streak, did that slight wobble in the heats give you and Heather Stanning any doubts?

In hindsight, that wasn’t a big thing as the conditions weren’t in our favour, but it gave us a helpful realisation that we were properly racing, and it’s always good to be pushed. But actually it gave us more confidence than people realised that we could win from the worst lane. A lot of people thought it had dented our confidence but it was actually the opposite.

Take us through the final. Did you actually talk much to each other during the race?

Actually, it was quite eerie in the final out on the lake. At the halfway point I think it was completely silent. You couldn’t hear the crowds and I couldn’t even hear the other crews so, unlike London, Heather could hear me quite easily. Come the final 500 metres, you could hear the noise building and building. By then, I felt we had it if we just kept on doing what we were doing without taking risks.

How have you celebrated?

At the time, we celebrated quite a lot. I think I swore a couple of times and I punched the air. I’m usually quite low key in my celebrations but not this time. I was very emotional and all my family were there crying. On my first night out I had a drink or two but couldn’t manage much more than that. Having barely drunk for four years it doesn’t take me much to get drunk! But I’ve gone out a bit with Heather and our partners, taking in beach volleyball and going to British House.

How do you think the team have fared as a whole?

I think we can definitely pat ourselves on the back by topping the rowing medal table with three golds and two silver.

How are the wedding plans going?

I remember there being a point where I worried that having the wedding [on September 10] might be too soon if we hadn’t won and I still wasn’t over the disappointment but, thankfully, that’s not a problem. And it’s great to have another celebration on the cards. Then it’s off on honeymoon. Steve [Backshall] is planning it and, with his line of work, unsurprisingly, it’s going to involve animals. It certainly won’t be a beach holiday, that’s not us.

Is that you done with rowing?

I really don’t know and I’m not making any decisions right now. But I’ll certainly take some time out to have an everyday life.

DFS is the official homeware partner for Team GB and has created the limited edition Britannia range of upholstered furniture that will be placed in British House — Team GB headquarters in Rio. The Britannia range is available to buy now, instore and online at dfs.co.uk/Britannia

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in