Helen Glover Sporting Career

It’s no surprise Helen Glover became an international athlete for she was always passionate about sport at school. She represented Cornwall and England in cross-country running – for which she won the junior international gold – middle-distance track, tennis and hockey; by age 14 she was part of the England Satellite Squad for hockey. She would then go on to study Sport and Exercise Science at University before becoming a PE teacher.

See Helen at the London 2012 Olympics:

Helen Glover Rowing Career

Remarkably, Helen only took on rowing in 2008 when she joined the GB Rowing Team’s “start” programme, finishing in 4th place at one of her very first events, the British Indoor Rowing Championships 2008. Continuing to win early on, including the Bernard Churcher Trophy in 2009, Helen made the decision to leave her teaching job in 2010 and was partnered with Heather Stanning to train in the women’s coxless pair.

Between them, Helen and Heather would go on to win three World Rowing Championships, five GB Rowing Team Senior Trials, ten World Rowing Cups, three European Championships and one British Rowing Championship, all in the space of six years. Helen would go on to win a further three World Rowing Cups and one World Championship with partner Polly Swann.

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021), Helen made history by being the first mum to present Great Britain in the rowing at an Olympics games. Helen and her new partner Polly Swann would go on to finish fourth in the final.

She competed at the 2024 Paris games, taking home a Silver Medal in the women’s coxless four.

Helen Glover Endurance Athlete

Not content with just making waves in rowing, Helen is passionate about participating in endurance sport in her free time. in 2017, she participated in – and won – the 125-mile kayak race from Devizes to Westminster, ran her first London marathon six days later, before qualifying for the Ironman World Championships later in the year.

Helen Glover Media Work

As well as her sporting career, Helen has also become a familiar face on our television screens. In 2012 she starred in the one-off BBC special Olympic Superstars. She would compete alongside fellow Olympic medallists including Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, Mo Farah, Anthony Joshua, Nicola Adams, Katherine Grainger, Jade Jones and Christine Ohuruogu, amongst many other famous names. She would go on to be named the women’s champion, winning the 800-metre run, the cycling, swimming and gym rounds, out-performing the men in the latter two events.

Newly married, Helen and Steve starred in Japan’s Northern Wilderness (2017), a series which showed them travelling 1,000km through Japan’s northern highlands, where they tracked macaques in the wild, went snow show trekking to a mud volcano and experiencing a centuries-old samurai hot spring bath.

In 2021, she starred in a BBC documentary, Helen Glover: The Mother of All Comebacks, which explored her journey from double Olympic champion to motherhood to returning to the sport.

She has also been a popular choice to guest star in well-known programmes including The Alan Titchmarsh Show (2012), The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2012), The Great Comic Relief Bake Off (2013), A Question of Sport (2013; 2015), This Morning (2016), Saturday Kitchen (2016), Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two (2016), The One Show (2017), Pointless Celebrities (2020) and Lorraine (2021).

Helen Glover – Motivational Public Speaking

Helen is an experienced, articulate and passionate Olympic speaker, with a wide range of live and recorded hosting experience. Available for speeches, hosting and Q&As, she is now an incredibly sought-after and popular speaker on the circuit, particularly when it comes to events in the sporting industry.

Helen Glover – Speaking Topics

– Olympics

– Rowing

– Endurance

– Motivation

– Overcoming Obstacles

– Working as a Team

– Women in Sport

After retaining her Olympic title, Helen married wildlife explorer Steve Backshall, another Great British Speaker; we offer a unique double act by booking the couple together.

Call +44 1753 439 289 or email Great British Speakers now to book Double Olympic Champion Helen Glover for your corporate event.

Contact us.