Greatest Paralympic rower Rowles to retire

Lauren Rowles, from Bromsgrove, became the first athlete to win a rowing gold at three Paralympic Games

Lauren Rowles OBE - described by British Rowing as the greatest Paralympic rower of all time - has announced her retirement from the sport.

The 27-year-old from Bromsgrove said it felt the right time to hang up her oars after a decade of success in a boat, knowing it was never going to get better than this.

She leaves the sport as the only athlete in the world to win three Paralympic gold medals for rowing.

Rowles is planning to return to wheelchair track racing, which is how she began her career as an elite athlete.

"I've been so proud to be part of teams that have been historic, and have a phenomenal legacy within sport," she said.

But since becoming a parent last year, she said she was also more aware of the family moments she had missed as she "gave her all" to rowing.

"You start to think about life on the other side," she said, adding that she had also reached a point where she needed a new challenge.

Returning to wheelchair racing, which she competed in as a junior, would be a "full circle moment" and a chance to complete unfinished business, she said.

'Champion mindset'

"When I went into rowing, there was this element of never finishing the project I started in wheelchair racing, which is why I want to go back and give it my best shot," she said.

Her last event as a junior wheelchair racer was in 2014 at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and with the Games back in the city in 2026, her goal is to be there.

She said she was going to use her "champion mindset" and training and experience from rowing in the next chapter of her sporting career.