Rowing perfect for women, says Glover as she rules out Tokyo
HELEN GLOVER, the double Olympic gold medal-winning rower, has ruled out competing in Tokyo 2020 but could compete at future Olympics.
Glover, who had her first child this summer, won gold in the women’s pairs at London 2012 only four years after picking up an oar for the first time.
She now wants to use her “pretty mental story” to inspire other women to take up the sport, alongside the British Rowing campaign SheRows, which is aiming to get 10,000 more women indoor rowing by 2021.
Glover said she wants to enjoy her three-month-old son, Logan, before she makes any commitments to returning to the Olympic stage.
“I don’t really call it training, I call it exercise,” she said. “It’s about, for me, being a much better mum when I have done some exercise.
“Tokyo is too soon, anyway. Having competed at the Olympic level once, if I went back [to the sport] I would want to do that level again. I think I could potentially do Tokyo, maybe, but would I want to do it? I know how much you have to commit to doing it – and right now my priority is Logan.”
SheRows is targeted at women returning to exercise after years of work commitments or having a baby.
Glover believes the rowing machine is perfect because “you can get a full body workout in 10 to 20 minutes”.
Commenting on her unconventional path to Olympic victory, Glover said: “It was suggested in 2008 that I should be a rower – and four years later I won gold at London 2012.
“But this campaign is really great to remind people how really simple rowing is. It’s just a basic full-body fantastic exercise.”