When rower Helen Glover made a sensational comeback at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, she blazed a trail not just for women in sport, but for all mothers, by showing it's possible to achieve your biggest goals as a mum of three.
And now, the double Olympic champion has made the exciting announcement that she's going for glory at Paris 2024 – and her Bafta-winning wildlife presenter husband Steve Backshall had the sweetest reaction.
"I want to be 38 years old, going into my next Games, being able to say to the world: 'I'm the best I have ever been and I’m a mum of three,'" Helen, 36, told HELLO! in our exclusive interview, one of her first since making her surprise announcement last week.
"There was a [rowing] trial in November and Steve said to me: 'I really think you should do it.' If he wasn't on board and so invested in and excited by it, it wouldn't be possible," Helen says of her supportive husband, with whom she shares Logan, four, and three-year-old twins Kit and Bo.
After winning gold in the women's coxless pairs with Heather Stanning first at London 2012, then again at Rio 2016, she took a step back to start her family with Steve.
Her history-making return to competition in Tokyo five years later made Helen the first mum to row in a British Olympic team - and her sights are set even higher for her Paris bid. "I'd love to win a medal. Imagining myself standing on the podium in Paris is what excites me at the moment. One of my motivations is that the children will be able to really be part of it. I’d love to think that they’ll come out and watch in the stands; it would be amazing."
© GettyWhen it comes to fitting training into her busy life, there's one piece of kit that has helped: her Hydrow rowing machine. Helen is an ambassador for the brand and says: "My Hydrow is great in terms of being a mum and finding time to train."
The machines have built-in screens displaying a library of more than 4,000 rowing workouts, filmed on courses around the world, from Lake Lucerne in Switzerland to the icy waters of Alaska.
Helen Glover is an ambassador for Hydrow. To find out more, visit hydrow.com.
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