Four rowers in the running for election to BOA Athletes’ Commission
Olympians Robin Bourne-Taylor, Alan Campbell, Mark Hunter and Tom Ransley are all standing for election to the BOA Athletes’ Commission
Clockwise from top left: Alan Campbell, Robin Bourne-Taylor, Tom Ransley and Mark Hunter
Four British Olympic rowers are in the running for a place on the BOA Athletes’ Commission, with their fellow Olympians the ones able to help vote them in.
Robin Bourne-Taylor, Alan Campbell, Mark Hunter and Tom Ransley and have all put themselves forward for election to the Commission, which is a committee of the BOA board. The Commission ensures the athletes’ voice is at the heart of what the BOA does.
Bourne-Taylor rowed at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics in the eight and pair respectively, is a double World Championships medallist and three-time Boat Race winner with Oxford. He rowed alongside his military career with the British Army, where he was recognised with the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his leadership in Afghanistan. Since retiring from rowing he has been CEO of two international engineering companies, and is currently Managing Director of Right to Dream, an organisation providing transformational life changing opportunities for the next generation of leaders through junior and professional football, educational and character development. In 2017 he was recognised as an emerging global leader and awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Global Fellowship.
Campbell competed at four Olympic Games, winning bronze at London 2012 in the single sculls. The Northern Irish rower won World Championship medals in all three years leading up to the London Games in some memorable battles with Mahe Drysdale (NZ) and Ondrej Synek (Czech Republic). Since retiring in 2016, Campbell has moved into the financial services management sector.
Hunter won Olympic gold in Beijing in the lightweight men’s double and followed it up with a silver in the same event at London 2012. Following his retirement, he worked as Programme Director for London Youth Rowing and is now a director for the Sports Technology Awards company.
Ransley became an Olympic champion at Rio 2016, winning gold in the men’s eight to add to his bronze from the same boat four years earlier in London. He is on the road to competing at his third Games in Tokyo and won bronze in the eight at the 2018 World Rowing Championships.
On his decision to stand for election, Bourne-Taylor told British Rowing: “My passion for rowing and the Olympics has always been strong, but I feel that I now have the experience and network to be able to contribute some real value to the BOA Athletes’ Commission.
“I want to provide a voice for athletes, to be able to represent them, and to execute on creative solutions to improve their experience during and after competition.
“I thrive on being able to mentor athletes across a wide range of areas to help them not just perform but also build for their future. This personal fulfilment, and in seeing the impact I can have on young athletes, has really motivated me to take this further, with the aim of joining the Athletes’ Commission.”
Team GB Gold Club members and Olympians who have competed within the last 12 years (since Turin 2006) are eligible to vote and will have received an email containing their unique voting link.
The successful candidate will join Ben Hawes (Chair) and Adam Gemili (Athletics), Katherine Grainger (Rowing), James Rodwell (Rugby Sevens), Joanna Rowsell-Shand (Cycling), Lizzie Simmonds (Aquatics Swimming), Lizzy Yarnold (Skeleton) on the BOA Athletes’ Commission.
Earlier this year, Paralympic rowing champion Grace Clough was elected to the Athletes’ Commission for the British Paralympic Association.
