Ed Coode

Ed has been winning medals since he started rowing at Eton. His glittering career reached its climax with gold at the Athens Olympics. Educated at Oxford University, Ed is extremely professional, impressing commercial partners and audiences alike with his talks.

Ed has been winning medals since he started rowing at Eton. His glittering career reached its climax with gold at the Athens Olympics. Educated at Oxford University, Ed is extremely professional, impressing commercial partners and audiences alike with his talks.

SPORT BIO

Olympic Gold medallist and motivational speaker Ed Coode discovered his talent for rowing at school. After winning silver at the Junior World Championships age 17, he went on to university and continued his rowing career at Newcastle and Oxford.

After competing in the 1998 Boat Race, he joined Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell in the Coxless Four at the 1999 World Championships. They won, with what Steve Redgrave has called his 'best race ever'. Unfortunately, after a year's intensive selection process, Ed was edged out of the Four by Tim Foster and competed in the Pair with Greg Searle at the Sydney Olympics. With only three months preparation they were still disappointed with their fourth place.

Ed decided he had 'unfinished business' in the rowing world and formed a new Four which went on to dominate and win the World Championships in 2001. But disappointment was to follow, after a training accident left him unable to train for eight months. In 2003 Ed rejoined the national squad and worked his way back up through the ranks, leading the British Eight to a bronze medal at the World Championships.

At the start of 2004 it looked as though Ed would only be going to the Athens Olympics as a reserve. But just before the first regatta, Ed was given a chance to prove himself when James Cracknell was temporarily injured. The Four with Ed in it won resoundingly at the World Cup and when James returned to fitness, Ed was given a place in the Olympic Eight.

The rollercoaster hadn't stopped however. Alex Partridge got a punctured lung just before Athens and Ed moved up to the top boat of the Coxless Four, alongside Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Steve Williams. With just six weeks to bring the crew together, they had to put all other issues behind them and create a winning unit.

As history shows, they succeeded, beating the World Champions from Canada by 0.08 of a second in one of the most exciting Olympic races ever in Athens 2004.