OLYMPIC HISTORY

Rowing would have been one of the inaugural sports of the modern Games in Athens had it not been for inclement weather. Instead, it was not until the Paris Games of 1900 that the Olympic movement embraced rowing, and when it did, the British were the first to dominate, winning 12 titles and dozens of other medals before the Second World War. The modern 2,000 metres course was established at the 1912 Games in Stockholm. It took a lot longer for women to become so established; it was not until the 1976 Games in Montreal that women rowers were allowed to compete in the Games, and even then they were only allowed to race over 1,000 metres until 1992. One of the first Olympic women rowers, Anita Defrantz, who was a member of the bronze-medal-winning US crew in the eights in 1976, went on to become the first black woman member of the IOC.

The first Olympic rowing champion was probably the youngest ever champion across all sports. On August 26, 1900, The Netherlands coxed pair decided that their cox was too heavy and dropped him. They chose instead a French boy from the crowd. The boy's photograph was taken on the medal rostrum as he was honoured, but then he disappeared into the crowd and no details were taken down. He is believed to have been between 7 and 12 years old. Anything under 10 would make him the youngest ever Olympic gold medal-winner.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Robert Zimonyi became the oldest gold medal winner when, aged 46, he coxed the US eight in 1964. A more famous American turned up in 1920; John Kelly, a bricklayer from Philadelphia, beat Jack Beresford, of Great Britain, to win the single sculls title. Beresford came back four years later to win the 1924 title on the River Seine in Paris, and, with Leslie Southwood won the double sculls in front of Hitler at the 1936 Games in Berlin. Kelly, meanwhile, had been busy becoming a family man, and his offspring would extend his fame beyond sport; while his son was four-times Olympic rower John Jr, his daughter, Grace Kelly, became a Hollywood actress and later Princess Grace of Monaco.

The 1948 games in London saw the introduction of electronic photographic finish technology. In the boats, however, Britain's success rate waned in the period from the 1950s to the 1970s, when Soviet bloc countries took control of the medal tables. Among women, East Germany and other Soviet bloc countries dominated until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

Five years earlier, a certain Steven Redgrave had won his first gold medal as a member of the British four-oared shell crew. Twelve years later at his fourth Games, Redgrave, when carrying the flag for Britain at the opening ceremony in Atlanta, famously held the pole with one arm outstretched before him and never once wavered as he led the team around the 400 metres track. A man many would be proud to go into battle with, Redgrave won an unprecedented fourth successive Olympic old medal in Atlanta and said that anyone who saw him get in a a boat again had "permission to shoot me".

No would dared when he took up the oars again to start training for what would be - this time in the coxless fours at at the age of 38 - his fifth successive Olympic victory in Sydney. Redgrave's skill, strength and stomach for the fight have earned him the respectful title of "Athlete of the Century". He is certainly the greatest rower ever, having won six world titles.

Redgrave and the rest of the world will have an eye on the host nation, Australia, which won the most rowing medals in Atlanta in 1996.