Olympic Champion Emily Craig MBE announces retirement

2024 Olympic gold medallist in the Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x), Emily Craig MBE, is retiring from the GB Rowing Team

Emily first discovered rowing through the British Rowing Indoor Championships at the age of 12. After winning a silver medal she decided to join Bewl Bridge, her local rowing club, and almost immediately set her sights on competing at the Olympic Games. She made her GB Rowing Team senior debut in 2015 and her Olympic debut in the Lightweight women’s double sculls with Imogen Grant at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games where they set a World Best Time in the heats before missing the podium in an agonising 0.01 second photo finish.

Emily has remained unbeaten since the Tokyo Olympics, recording the longest run in history of any lightweight woman. She began the Paris Olympiad with Maddie Arlett, winning the World Cup series in 2022, before reuniting with Imogen Grant. They became Olympic Champions forever at the Paris 2024 Games last summer.

Emily said: “I am so grateful to have had such an incredible career in the sport that I love. It is a real privilege to be able to step away with nothing left to prove and having become the athlete I’d always dreamed of being.

“Though I’m excited to embark on the next chapter, rowing will always be a part of my life – maybe just three times a week, not three times a day! And I hope I can continue to give back to the community that has given me so much.”

Andrew Randell, Women’s Olympic Head coach said: “Emily’s record over the Paris Olympiad is unprecedented in lightweight women’s rowing. Her dedication to the team is also noteworthy having been a member of the athlete leadership team working as an athlete representative over the past Olympic cycle. I am confident that she will continue to be successful in whatever direction she chooses in life and thank her for her significant service to the team over many years.”

Emily leaves GB Rowing as Olympic Champion, a three times World Champion and two times European Champion. She holds the World Best Time in the Lightweight women’s double sculls –  6:40.47, set at World Rowing Cup II in Varese 2023 – and was voted World Rowing Crew of the Year in 2023. Emily was awarded an MBE in January 2025 and has a Masters in East Asian Art.