Tokyo Olympics: Helen Glover return a 'stupendous achievement' - Steve Backshall
- Published
Helen Glover won her two Olympic gold medals alongside Heather Stanning
Helen Glover: The Mother of All Comebacks | |
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Watch on BBC One at 22:35 BST on Monday, 19 July. Catch-up on BBC iPlayer |
Sport's list of great comebacks is a long one. Think Tiger Woods winning the Masters in 2019. Think Paul Scholes coming out of retirement to win the Premier League with Manchester United in 2013. Think Michael Phelps returning for the 2016 Rio Olympics to add another five gold medals to his haul. That's just a select few from the last decade.
British rower Helen Glover could be about to join that list.
After Rio, Glover retired, with another gold medal in the women's pairs, to add to her success at London 2012.
It was time for her to start a family and five years, and a boy plus twins - a boy and a girl - later she is back doing the sport she loves.
Her comeback began last March, when the Tokyo Games were postponed for 12 months until this summer because of the pandemic.
That news left Glover with a "strange look in her eye", according to her husband, explorer Steve Backshall.
"She hadn't been in a boat, not with any exaggeration, since the Rio final, and I thought 'oh no, here we go'," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
An intense year-long training period followed, with up to three sessions a day, often around the kids' naps, or on just "one or two hours' sleep".
"It was an achievable goal," added Backshall, who has filmed part of Glover's training at home for the documentary.
"Trying to do a complete four-year Olympiad with three kids would be pretty much impossible.
"The pandemic had created this unusual situation where we were locked in, and we had the opportunity for her to train, and it was sort of like 'well, what have I got to lose?'.
"She had a year where she could throw herself at it, and see what happened."
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Glover, who will become the first mother to row for Britain at the Olympics, returned to competitive action in April, winning European Championship gold alongside Polly Swann.
Swann will be her pair in Tokyo, with the heats on Saturday, 24 July (between 01:50-02:10 BST), and the final on Thursday, 29 July.
Backshall admits it is "very difficult" for the pair to know where they are at, with their most likely competitors coming from outside Europe.
But, he believes Glover just making the team is a "stupendous achievement".
"To my mind she is the most extraordinary role model to the kids," he continues.
"The way that she carries herself, and still thinks about life, and the way that she still prioritises her kids and motherhood, alongside training for what is surely one of the most demanding and gruelling sports, is incredibly impressive."
The Games are going ahead without spectators, which means Backshall is having to watch from the UK, rather than travelling to Tokyo with their three children, something he admits he is "quietly having a sigh of relief" about.
No matter where they are watching from, one thing is for certain, the couple's three kids are incredibly proud of her for getting this far, so anything else is a bonus.
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