Alex Gregory

Alex Gregory, MBE (born 11 March 1984) is an English rower and a two-time Olympic Gold medallist from 2012 and 2016 in the Coxless four.

For the Australian cricketer, see Alex Gregory (cricketer).

Alex Gregory
MBE
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1984-03-11) 11 March 1984
Cheltenham, England
Height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight97 kg (214 lb; 15.3 st)
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
2012 LondonCoxless four
2016 Rio de JaneiroCoxless four
World Championships
2009 Poznań Coxless four
2011 Bled Coxless four
2013 ChungjuEight
2014 Amsterdam Coxless four
2015 AiguebeletteEight
European Championships
2014 BelgradeCoxless four
2015 PoznanEight
2016 BrandenburgCoxless four

Education

Alex Gregory was educated at the Richard Pate School in Cheltenham, then Bredon Hill Middle School, a comprehensive school in Ashton under Hill, Worcestershire, followed by Prince Henry's High School in Evesham. He later attended the University of Reading in Berkshire from which he graduated in 2006.

Career

Born in Cheltenham, Gregory gained his first GB vest in 2004 at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Poland, finishing 11th in the quad.[1] At the World U23 Championships in 2005 he was 4th in the double and 8th in the single the following year. He has been a full member of the men's squad since his graduation from university.[1] Gregory is also a member of the Leander Club, of which he was Captain.[1]

He was selected for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as a reserve, having narrowly missed out on qualifying the men's quad for the Games.[1]

Gregory won the pair at the GB Rowing Senior Trials in his first season in 'sweep'. He established his place in the new GB four during the 2009 World Cup Series winning two golds and a bronze to take the overall 2009 title. He was the 'rookie' in the boat, racing with three experienced Olympians, all medallists from Beijing.

At the 2009 World Rowing Championships the four's main rivals were the Australian silver medal four from Beijing who had stayed together to avenge the GB victory at the Olympics. GB won the gold medal, almost two seconds ahead of Australia with Slovenia in third.[1]

At the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, Gregory raced in the men's four with crewmates Matt Langridge, Richard Egington and Tom James, winning a gold medal ahead of Greece in second and Australia in third.[1]

At the 2012 GB Rowing Team Senior Trials held in March at Eton Dorney, Gregory and crew mate Alex Partridge came second in the men's pair.[1]

Pete Reed, Tom James and Andrew Triggs Hodge, who won gold in the four in Beijing, were all selected along with Gregory for the Olympic season. The four went on to win the 2012 London Olympic Games gold medal in the Coxless four at Eton Dorney.[2]

In August 2012, to celebrate his gold medal at London 2012, post boxes were painted gold in his home town of Cheltenham.[3]

On 20 November Gregory was named as "Olympic Athlete of the Year" at the GB Rowing Teams awards.[4]

Honours

Gregory was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to rowing.[5][6]

gollark: The tulip subsidies are merely a metaphor.
gollark: Quite a lot of the time people try and get degrees not because they actually need to know something important about the subject, but because they won't be taken seriously/hired without one, which is bad.
gollark: Well, they cost a massive amount for some bizarre reason, and if you just subsidize it people will come out with degrees but it will also be a massive money pit.
gollark: Free universities is a very very bad idea.
gollark: Idea: discrete cosine transforms.

See also

References
  1. "Alex Gregory". britishrowing.org. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  2. "Olympics rowing: GB men's coxless four defend Games title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  3. "Stamps featuring Gloucestershire gold medal winners on sale". BBC News Gloucestershire. BBC News. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  4. British Rowing, 20 November 2015, Gregory and Stanning named Olympic athletes of the Year
  5. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 25.
  6. Cabinet Office
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