PROFILE: ACHIEVEMENTS
Other key achievements
Steve has won many honours in his sport, including, in 1986 becoming a Triple Commonwealth Gold Medallist at Edinburgh, winning the Single Scull, Coxless Pairs, and Coxed Four. His other sporting interests include golf and winter sports, and during the 1989/90 season, he was a member of the British Bobsleigh Team.
Together with partner Matthew Pinsent, Steve was the holder of the World Record in Coxless Pairs set in Lucerne in 1994 until 2002 and still retains the Olympic Record, set in Atlanta in 1996. Steve and Matt enjoyed an exclusive sponsorship deal with Lombard, which allowed them to devote all their time to training for international regattas and to winning more honours for Great Britain.
Already established as the world's most outstanding rower of all time after his Atlanta victory, Steve announced in 1997 that he had decided to carry on competing through to the Millennium Games in Sydney in the hope of winning a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal - a feat which has confirmed him as one of the greatest athletes in Olympic history.
The Knighthood
Steve was awarded the MBE in the New Year's Honours List in 1987 and the CBE in the New Year's Honours List of 1997 and following his success in Sydney was awarded a Knighthood in the 2001 New Years Honours List. The University of Durham also awarded him an Honorary Degree in December 1996.
