Alex Gregory MBE

Rower // Men's Squad
Date of Birth: 11th Mar 1984 (40 years old)
Club: Leander
Hometown: Wormington

Alex Gregory profile image

Double Olympic Champion and multiple World Champion, Alex Gregory has been a full member of the men’s squad since 2006 and was awarded the MBE in the 2013 New Year’s Honours list.

Since making the change from sculling to sweep in 2008, he has twice been crowned Olympic Champion with the men’s four – at London 2012 and Rio 2016 – and won a fantastic five World Championship gold medals.

The proud father of Jasper, Daisy and Jesse, Alex is patron of the British Exploring youth charity and a graduate of the GB Rowing Team Start Programme, the ground-breaking talent identification and development initiative supported by National Lottery funding. He is also the current captain of Leander Club.

Five-times World Champion Alex Gregory won a second successive Olympic title with the men's four at Rio 2016

On The Water

2016

Olympic Champion - Men's Four

European Champion - Men's Four

2015

World Champion - Men's Eight

European Silver Medallist - Men's Eight

2014

World Champion - Men's Four

European Champion - Men's Four

2013

World Champion - Men's Eight

2012

Olympic Champion - Men's Four

2011

World Champion - Men's Four

2009

World Champion - Men's Four

Rio 2016 Olympiad: 2013 – 2016

After being crowned World Champion in 2013, 2014 and 2015, Alex completed a golden Olympiad at Rio 2016 as he helped GB secure a fifth successive men’s four title.

It was a second-successive Olympic gold in the four for Alex, who this time teamed up with Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash and Constantine Louloudis to power to victory on a fantastic Friday on the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, beating Australia by three-quarters of a length.

It completed an unbeaten season for Alex, which started as he won the GB Rowing Team Trials with Sbihi for a third successive year. The four made a winning debut at the European Championships in Brandenburg, securing gold in choppy conditions, but Louloudis was unable to race at the Lucerne World Cup due to illness.

Callum McBrierty took his place in the boat as the four won a dramatic gold, pipping Australia on the line. Louloudis returned for the Poznan World Cup, where GB maintained their unbeaten record for 2016 by finishing a length clear of World Champions Italy.

Alex had started the Rio Olympiad in the eight, a new challenge after being in the men’s four since 2009.  It proved to be a successful transition, though, as Alex helped secure a historic first-ever World Championship gold for a British eight.

He was back in the four the following year, joining Andrew T Hodge, Sbihi and Nash in a crew that remained unbeaten throughout 2014. After securing a first European Championships title of his career, Alex also won gold at the World Cups in Aiguebelette and Lucerne before producing an outstanding clear-water victory at the World Championships in Amsterdam.

An enthralling 2015 saw Alex return to the eight and, along with his crew-mates, enjoy a season-long battle with Germany. After having to settle for silver at the European Championships, GB won World Cup gold in Varese and Lucerne by fractions of a second. The drama continued at the World Championships in Aiguebelette as GB edged out their rivals by two-tenths of a second to claim gold for a third successive year.

Pete Reed, Andrew T Hodge, Alex Gregory and Tom James won men's four gold at London 2012

London 2012 Olympiad: 2009 – 2012

When Alex won gold with the men’s four on Super Saturday at London 2012, it completed an impressive turnaround in his rowing fortunes.

In 2009 Alex switched to sweep and promptly won the men’s pair race at the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials.  That earned him a place in a men’s four that won two golds and a bronze on the World Cup circuit before finishing two seconds clear of the field at the World Championships.

Two more World Cup golds and a bronze followed in 2010 but there was disappointment at the World Championships as, in challenging conditions on New Zealand’s Lake Karapiro, the four finished just outside the medals.

Alex retained his place in the boat for 2011 and helped GB win a brace of World Cup golds before reclaiming the World title in style in Bled.

A new-look four of Alex, Pete Reed, Tom James and Andrew Triggs Hodge came together at the start of 2012 and won back-to-back World Cup golds in Belgrade and Lucerne before narrowly losing to Australia in Munich.  However, they avenged that defeat in style at London 2012 – leading from start to finish to win one of six Team GB gold medals on Super Saturday.  Alex and his crewmates were awarded MBEs in the 2013 New Year’s Honours list.

GB Competitive Record

Olympic Games
Rio de Janeiro 2016 M4-
London 2012 M4-
Olympic Games:
Rio de Janeiro 2016
M4-
Olympic Games:
London 2012
M4-
World Rowing Championships
2015 M8+
2014 M4-
2013 M8+
2011 M4-
2010 4th M4-
2009 M4-
2007 15th M4x
World Rowing Championships:
2015
M8+
World Rowing Championships:
2014
M4-
World Rowing Championships:
2013
M8+
World Rowing Championships:
2011
M4-
World Rowing Championships:
2010
4th
M4-
World Rowing Championships:
2009
M4-
World Rowing Championships:
2007
15th
M4x
European Rowing Championships
2016 M4-
2015 M8+
2014 M4-
European Rowing Championships:
2016
M4-
European Rowing Championships:
2015
M8+
European Rowing Championships:
2014
M4-
World Rowing Cup Regattas
2016 Poznan M4-
2016 Lucerne M4-
2015 Lucerne M8+
2015 Varese M8+
World Rowing Cup Regattas:
2016 Poznan
M4-
World Rowing Cup Regattas:
2016 Lucerne
M4-
World Rowing Cup Regattas:
2015 Lucerne
M8+
World Rowing Cup Regattas:
2015 Varese
M8+
World Rowing U23 Championships
2006 8th M1x
2005 4th M2x
2004 11th M4x
World Rowing U23 Championships:
2006
8th
M1x
World Rowing U23 Championships:
2005
4th
M2x
World Rowing U23 Championships:
2004
11th
M4x
GB Rowing Team Senior Trials
2014, 2015, 2016 1st M2-
2011, 2012, 2013 2nd M2-
2009 1st M2-
GB Rowing Team Senior Trials:
2014, 2015, 2016
1st
M2-
GB Rowing Team Senior Trials:
2011, 2012, 2013
2nd
M2-
GB Rowing Team Senior Trials:
2009
1st
M2-

More info...

Alex learnt to row at Evesham where he was coached by Mark Earnshaw, at that time a history teacher locally.  They teamed up again when Alex won a place at Reading University and Mark became one of GB Rowing Team’s first Start coaches.

He made his GB debut at the 2004 World U23 Championships, finishing 11th in the quad.  Alex then narrowly missed out on a double scull medal the following year before placing eighth in the single scull at the 2006 championships.

Alex was part of the senior men’s quad throughout 2007, finishing 15th at the World Championships, but they failed to qualify the boat for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.  He was selected as a reserve, however, and used the experience to refocus his career.

Club: Leander Club
Boat: Men’s Squad
Coach: Jürgen Grobler

Learnt to Row: Evesham Rowing Club with GBRT Start Programme
Original Club(s): Evesham Rowing Club
Original Coach(es): Mark Earnshaw

Beyond the Boat

Alex is dad to newborn Jesse, two-year-old Daisy and six-year-old Jasper, so ‘relaxing’ at home involves heading out into the garden to climb trees, running around like army men or walking the family’s cocker spaniel.

After cleaning up, catching up with correspondence and fitting in a quick TV show – his favourite is Countryfile – Alex says he is asleep before lights out “without fail”.

Before taking up rowing seriously, Alex took part in a British Schools Exploring Society expedition to the Arctic Island of Svalbard – a “weird but wonderful experience” where he spent four weeks studying a remote glacial valley, climbing mountains and exploring the ice cap without once seeing the sun set.

He still loves travelling the world and describes his ideal post-rowing job as either exploring and mountaineering or keeping and studying animals.  David Attenborough and Ernest Shackleton are unsurprisingly two of his dream dinner guests, along with Gareth from The Office.

Alex loves discovering new music, with Monsters of Folk and Kodaline his two latest finds, but is happy to listen to whatever Moe Sbihi and Charles Cousins put on the stereo in training.

Alex is Lottery funded through UK Sport.

Personal information

Place of Birth Current Address Home Town Region(s)
Cheltenham Henley-on-Thames Wormington Worcestershire
Place of Birth:
Cheltenham
Current Address:
Henley-on-Thames
Home Town:
Wormington
Region(s):
Worcestershire

 

Education
Reading University
Education:
Reading University