Katherine Grainger

Dame Katherine Grainger is Britain’s most decorated female Olympic athlete with Olympic silver at Rio 2016 and gold at London 2012 to add to her silver medals from Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008. She has six world championships titles in her collection and was the first British woman to win medals at five successive games.

For services to rowing, Katherine was awarded an MBE in 2006 and a CBE in 2013. She serves as an ambassador, patron and board member to a selection of charities and sporting bodies and this was recognised when, to round off an exceptional 20 year career in sport, she became Dame Katherine Grainger in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List for services to sport and charity.

‘Katherine is an iconic figure in the world of rowing. Her continual success for more than a decade elevates Katherine into a class of her own. She exemplifies a rare combination of athletic ability and determination to succeed that can only be seen in great champions,’ said Sir Steve Redgrave.

Katherine is the current Chair of UK Sport. She was appointed for a term of four years in April 2017 with the approval of the Prime Minister. In 2018 they launched the new Code for Sports Governance, supporting athletes, and protecting the most vulnerable. In March 2015, she was appointed the fourth Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University.

She is a board member of International Inspiration, a charity that promotes access to sport, play, and physical exercise for low and middle-income families with children around the world.