Rower Grant has 'passion' to help tackle climate change

BBC Green Sport Awards Athlete of the Year Imogen Grant wants to use her "platform" and "passion" to help tackle climate change after having her eyes opened to its impacts.

Rower Grant won Olympic gold in Paris earlier this year alongside Emily Craig in the women's double sculls.

And spending so much time on the water during her sports career has motivated the 28-year-old to become a prominent sustainability advocate.

"Physically experiencing so many of the changes we have seen during the climate crisis - flooding, inclement weather, hot weather, really freezing weather, unbelievable rains and storms - as I am trying to train has really opened my eyes to the impact the climate crisis is having, on me directly and the entire world," she told BBC Sport.

"I've been rowing for 10 years. I have seen the changes in the water. I have ridden past floating nappies, seen used tampons floating and hanging in the trees on the sides of the bank, and I've seen dead fish.

"Seeing the degradation of our waterways has been really difficult."

Grant, who is in her first foundation year as a doctor having completed a medical degree at the University of Cambridge, was instrumental in the launch of the Clean Water Sport Alliance earlier this year.

British Rowing is one of seven national governing bodies of water-based sports to come together with the aim of improving river health and water quality in the UK.

Grant has also become an ambassador for the Rivers Trust and was a spokesperson for British Rowing when it announced its environmental sustainability strategy.

"As an athlete, I know that I have a platform and I have a passion, but I haven't always had the knowledge and the nuts and bolts," she said.

"Working with the Rivers Trust, I feel like I have learned so much and I am so much better equipped to talk about the things I am passionate about.

"I know enough to know what I am talking about and make a real difference. Knowledge is absolutely power."

'We are sportspeople, we love an underdog'

As she has grown her knowledge, Grant has also made changes in her life.

"Sometimes it feels like small changes aren't worth it," she said. "But I have found that by making small changes I gain momentum. I gain motivation to make bigger ones and to talk more about it more often.

"I went vegan in January last year and that was a big step for me to prove to myself, but also to other people, you can be an elite athlete and be vegan without it affecting your performance.

"I am also a passionate knitter and seamstress. I have been trying to make my own clothes and not buy any new clothing this year. If I want, it I will make it."

Grant has also been a driving force behind the introduction of new measures at British Rowing's National Training Centre to help it operate more sustainably, alongside regular testing of water quality.

In September, she was one of just two athletes - along with beach volleyball player Lina Taylor - to win an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Climate Action Award for 2024.

She now wants to encourage more people to get involved with tackling climate change.

"It is important to remember that a little bit is better than not at all," Grant said.

"The climate crisis is here and it can feel really doom and gloom because it is really urgent. But we are sportspeople, we love an underdog and I just think sport is the right place to try and champion this.

"I don't think we are out of hope yet, we have still got time to make a difference."