Dame Katherine Jane Grainger (born 12 November 1975) is a Scottish athlete. She is a2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist and six-time World Champion for Great Britain.[4] She served as Chancellor ofOxford Brookes University between 2015 and 2020 and is currently Chancellor of theUniversity of Glasgow.[5][6]
Grainger first won silver at the Sydney Olympics in2000 in the woman'squadruple sculls. In Athens in2004, she won silver in thecoxless pairs. In Beijing2008 she won her third silver, again in the quadruple sculls.
At the London Olympics2012,Anna Watkins and Grainger broke the Olympic record as they qualified for the double sculls final, before winning the gold medal. Grainger won a silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games2016 withVictoria Thornley, after a two-year break from the sport. Grainger won eight medals at the World Championship between 1997 and 2011.
Born in Glasgow in 1975, she attended Mosshead Primary School prior to attendingBearsden Academy in East Dunbartonshire near Glasgow. Grainger's family later moved toNetherley,Aberdeenshire.[citation needed]
Grainger holds aBachelor of Laws (LLB) from theUniversity of Edinburgh,[7] aMaster of Philosophy (MPhil) in Medical Law and Medical Ethics from theUniversity of Glasgow,[8] and aDoctor of Philosophy in law fromKing's College London.[2] Her doctoral research (on "the genesis and challenges of the whole life order, introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, under which those sentenced face life-long incarceration with no possibility of release"[9]) was supervised by Elaine Player andBen Bowling.[2] In July 2013, King's made Grainger a fellow.[10] She remarked, "Without planning it both my Olympic career and my PhD have met at the same time and the culmination for both is 2012 – not by design."[11]
Grainger took up rowing at the University of Edinburgh in 1993 and represented Edinburgh'sSt Andrew Boat Club and/orMarlow Rowing Club in rowing events. She trained on theRiver Dee.
She first won silver at Sydney in2000 in the woman's quadruple sculls withGuin Batten,Gillian Lindsay andMiriam Batten losing to a German team. Four years later in Athens in2004, she won silver again when she took part in the coxless pairs withCath Bishop, losing toGeorgeta Damian andViorica Susanu ofRomania. She returned to the quadruple sculls in Beijing2008, when she won her third silver withAnnabel Vernon,Debbie Flood andFrances Houghton, narrowly losing toChina after taking the lead for some of the race. On 3 August 2012, she won an Olympic gold medal at London in the double sculls withAnna Watkins. At the 2016 Olympics, she won a silver medal in double sculls withVicky Thornley.
Grainger has won eight medals at the World Championships. The first of these was a bronze in 1997 in the eight, then a gold with Bishop in 2003, a gold in 2005 with the quadruple scull, with Houghton,Sarah Winckless, andRebecca Romero, and in 2006 her quadruple scull was promoted to gold following a drugs test on the winning Russian crew. This quad had Debbie Flood instead of Romero, who had retired after the 2005 world championships.
Another gold came in 2007, again in the quadruple sculls, with Annabel Vernon replacing the injured Sarah Winckless. In 2009, having switched to the single scull after the Beijing Olympics, Grainger claimed a surprise silver at the World Championships in Poland. In 2010, Grainger teamed up withAnna Watkins in the double sculls and they embarked on an unbeaten season, culminating in victory in November in the World Championships in Lake Karapiro, New Zealand, and then defending the title in an injury disrupted season in 2011 in Bled, Slovenia.
She has won the Rowing World Cup in the quadruple sculls in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 and the double sculls in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
On 14 March 2015, Grainger was part of the composite crew that won theWomen's Eights Head of the River Race on the River Thames in London, setting a time of 18:58.6 for the4+1⁄4-mile (6.8-kilometre)championship course fromMortlake toPutney.[12] Her GB rowing team senior final trials results include:
Following retirement, Grainger also regularly raced at theHOCR[14] in Boston in a 'Director's Challenge Mixed 8' made up of a crew containing several past rowing Olympians and in 2019 they placed 1st in this event.[15]
In April 2017, Grainger was appointed chair ofUK Sport.[16] She was reappointed for a second term on 1 July 2021.[17] In March 2015, Grainger was appointed the fourth chancellor ofOxford Brookes University, at a ceremony joined by her three predecessors,Shami Chakrabarti CBE,Jon Snow and BaronessHelena Kennedy QC.[18]
On 28 November 2024 it was announced that Grainger will become the new chair of theBritish Olympic Association (BOA) on completion of her final term as chair of UK Sport in 2025.[19] She will replace the incumbent SirHugh Robertson, becoming the first female chair of the BOA since its establishment in 1905.
Grainger is a board member for the Youth Sport Trust,[20] the British Olympic Association's Athlete Commission[21] and is a Patron for Netball Scotland,[22] Winning Scotland, the NCI[23] and Aberlour children's charity.
Grainger was previously a board member of International Inspiration (2012-2017), a charity that promoted access to sport, play, and physical exercise for low- and middle-income families with children around the world. It was the first international development legacy initiative linked to an Olympic and Paralympic Games.[24] International Inspiration's board members included British broadcasterDavid Davies, former UK government ministerAndrew Mitchell, and SirSebastian Coe.[25]
In 2014 she judged the category prize 'dreams' for theKoestler Trust's annual exhibition "Catching Dreams", curated by previous Koestler award entrants. The exhibition at theSouthbank Centre presented art works by prisoners, detainees and ex-offenders.
On 17 June 2025, it was announced that she was to be awarded alife peerage, and will sit in theHouse of Lords as acrossbencher.[26]
Grainger was elected President of theEdinburgh University Boat Club in 1996/97. She twice received theEdinburgh University Sports Union's Eva Bailey Cup for the university's most outstanding female athlete in 1995/96 and 1996/97[27] and was inducted to the University's Sports Hall of Fame on 29 May 2008.
She was elected as honorary president of theScottish Amateur Rowing Association in November 2005, and a steward ofHenley Royal Regatta in 2008, only the third rower to be elected while still competing.[28]
She was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2006 Birthday Honours,Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to rowing,[29][30] andDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the2017 New Year Honours for services to sport and charity.[1][31]
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In August 2012, a postbox in Aberdeen was painted gold to celebrate her 2012 Olympic gold medal.[32]
In March 2013, she became patron of the National Coastwatch Institution.[33]
In June 2017, Grainger was awarded anhonorary doctorate by theUniversity of Aberdeen.[34]
In July 2017, it was announced that the trophy awarded to the winners of the Senior Women's competition at theHome International Regatta would be known as Dame Katherine GraingerQuaich. The first winners of the trophy were Scotland.[35]
In 2020 she was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, in succession to Professor Sir Kenneth Calman. She is the first woman to hold the office at Glasgow University, founded in 1451.
In January 2024 she was appointed an Honorary Colonel of the 215 (Scottish) Multirole Medical Regiment, Army Reserve.[36]
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| Preceded by | Chancellor of theUniversity of Glasgow 2020–present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
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World champions – Women'scoxless pair | |
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World champions – Women'sdouble sculls | |
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World champions – Women'squadruple sculls | |
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| Coxed (1974–1983) |
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| Coxless (1985–pres.) |
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Women's quad sculls has been anOlympic event since1976; seeOlympic champions – Women's quadruple sculls | |
Thomas Keller Medal recipients | |
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See also:Thomas Keller |
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