Sir Steve Redgrave is a British rower known for his amazing record of winning five gold medals at consecutive Olympic Games.
He is one of only four Olympians to have achieved this, which led him to being named Britain’s greatest Olympian in a 2011 Sports Life poll.
Diagnosis
Redgrave was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1997 at the age of 35.
At the time, Redgrave was training and competing with a focus on winning a fifth gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
Redgrave had won his first four Olympic gold medals while eating a diet of around 7,000 calories a day, but was put on a low-sugar diet following his diagnosis.
After his energy levels started to plummet, Redgrave reverted back to eating a high-calorie diet and injecting after meals between eight to ten times per day.
Redgrave went on to win his fifth and final Olympic gold medal at Sydney. He did so with a stash of sugar on board with him.
In many interviews Redgrave has expressed his concern that he wouldn’t be able to achieve the goals he had set before his diagnosis
Redgrave also acknowledges a forward thinking doctor, Dr Ian Galle, who gave him the confidence to continue with his rowing, as well as a knighthood and countless achievements including:
- Three Commonwealth Games gold medals
- Nine gold World Rowing Championships Medals
Normal life
Sir Steven Redgrave has used his celebrity status to show other budding athletes with diabetes that if properly treated and monitored, there is no reason why you cannot continue in living a normal life.
