Katherine Grainger is a rower who has competed for Great Britain. She competed at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Grainger was born on 12 November 1975 in Glasgow. She qualified for her first Olympics in 2000, in which she earned a silver medal in the Quadruple Sculls. Grainger then went on to compete in the Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics. She was listed for a CBE in the 2013 Honours list for services to rowing. She is the most successful female rower for Great Britain. She is a six-time world champion.
Biography[]
Grainger's family moved to Netherley, Aberdeenshire, and Katherine represents several rowing clubs in rowing events. She often trained on the River Dee, which is the only river she has fallen into whilst rowing.
She is a three time silver medallist, earning silver in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics. Her first medal was in the quadruple sculls with Guin Batten, Gillian Lindsay and Miriam Batten, losing to the German side. In 2004 she took part in the coxless pairs with Cath Bishop, losing to Romania. In 2008 she returned to quadruple sculls with Annie Vernon, Debbie Flood and Frances Houghton, losing narrowly to China. She has also won eight medals in world championships.
She has also won the Rowing World Cup in the Quadruple Sculls in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 and the Double Sculls in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Grainger has an Honours law degree from Edinburgh University, a Master of Philosophy degree in Medical Law from Glasgow University and is studying for a PhD in Homicide at King's College London. Grainger has 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."
Olympic Results[]
| Year | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Women's quadruple sculls | 
|
| 2004 | Women's pair |
|
| 2008 | Women's quadruple sculls |
|
| 2012 | Women's double sculls | 
|
| 2016 | Women's double sculls |
|
2000[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Quadruple sculls | Round 1 | 6:35.09 |
| Repechage | 6:30.96 | |
| Final | 6:21.64 |
2004[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Pair | Round 1 | 7:34.66 |
| Repechage | 7:06.75 | |
| Final | 7:08.66 |
2008[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Quadruple sculls | Round 1 | 6:13.70 |
| Repechage | Bye | |
| Final | 6:17.37 |
2012[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Double sculls | Round 1 | 6:44.33 |
| Repechage | Bye | |
| Final | 6:55.82 |
2016[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Double sculls | Round 1 | 7:05.32 |
| Repechage | Bye | |
| Semifinal | 6:52.47 | |
| Final | 7:41.05 |