Rory Achieves His Goal With Gold in Paris

Rory Gibbs winning a gold medal in the Men’s Eight in seat 2 at the Paris Olympics meant that his “sole task” was complete and he has a “sense of peace” after missing out on a medal in Tokyo.

Rory first got in a rowing boat at 18 at Millford School in the summer term after rugby being his first passion growing up.  Rory commented, “My peers caught up my speed in rugby and I was constantly getting injured.  I really enjoyed rowing and then continued when I went to Oxford Brookes University to study Sports Coaching and Physical Education degree and Masters in Business Management.”

Whilst at Oxford Brookes Rory won his first of six Henley Royal Regatta events in the Temple Cup (University 8s).  He was first selected for Team GB in the U23 World Championships in 2015 and then the senior squad in 2019 when he became European Champion in the Men’s Four.  At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 Rory was part of the Men’s Four who were beaten by the Italians to miss out on a bronze medal.

Before any big race, Rory tries to ‘nap’ for 20 mins by listing to rain noise to get in the zone. Getting ready for the start of the Olympic final Rory said: “On the start we were trying not to get over excited and staying internal. A lot of the other crews were getting vocal and slapping the boat particularly the Americans.  This almost had the adverse affect because we knew that they were feeling a bit insecure.”

Looking back at the final Rory said, “As a crew we didn’t have the cleanest of starts but it was hard and loud out of the blocks.  We had a very clear race plan that Harry (the cox) delivers. The first 500m we’re at our max and it was very much at a level playing point.  After the 500m we started to get a bit more aware of our field.  We certainly wanted to give a big push through that middle 1km.  Getting to the 1km we were nearly level with the Dutch and .1 sec down. We always thought the challenge would come from the Americans.  Coming through the 1km we knew we are good at holding speed and we could sort of smell blood in the water at 750m.  I certainly at that point gave it all and was going as hard as I could.  We then knew in the last 250m that we could hold the Dutch off.  As we got to that last 250m my eyesight was narrowing in and the ears were popping and my body was seizing up and my head was rolling around.  When we got the finish line, Harry stood up which was quite cool and iconic.  I was half dead and just thinking Harry sit down!”

The race really took a toll on Rory’s body.  He explained, “I was pretty much carried out of the boat and taken to the medical tent.  They did offer me a wheelchair to go the medal podium but I thought I can get to my feet.  It took a long time to come around and even on the medal podium my eyesight was narrowing in and my ears still popping.

After Tokyo where no spectators were allowed, Rory said, “It was very special to have family and friends there and it was very emotional.  Tokyo was a really good experience even though I had a tough time to get there and we had an upset in the final.  I learnt a lot from Tokyo and I had a very deep sense of redemption in Paris.”

After celebrating with family and his girlfriend in Paris, Rory returned home to spend a day with his Granddad who lives near Liphook who wasn’t able to travel.  Rory said, “He watched the race down the pub with close friends.  It was great to go and see him and show him my medal.”  Rory then returned to Paris to watch some other sports and do some sightseeing which included getting a free pass up the Eiffel tower with his gold medal.  His highlight was meeting Ilona Maher the USA famous Rugby 7 star who Rory said was “very funny”.

Will Rory go for a second gold in LA in four years time?  Rory said, “It is very hard to say how I feel right now.   I don’t think I’ll continue but you never know. Never say never!  I have said to a lot of people if I weren’t to continue, I might consider coming back in 2 years time and giving it a pop but maybe at that point I might be in a different place.”

Asked what the best thing has happened since Rory won Olympic gold.  Rory replied, “A lot of opportunities have been coming my way; opening doors in different industries which I’ll be looking at.”

Like many top level sports personnel, Rory said the hardest thing about rowing is the sacrifice of your time.  He commented, “You are strapped down to Caversham 6 or 7 days a week, training three times a day and you can’t commit to anything and you can’t go away on holiday.  I missed my sister’s wedding 5 years ago because I had just got into the senior team and I had to go to a Portugal training camp.”

What would Rory say to a young rower starting out?  Rory replied, “Try and have fun.  Enjoy it and don’t take it too seriously. Have a laugh and get your mates involved. Participate in multi sports not just rowing.”

The Paris Olympic medals came with a Louis Vuitton designed boxed with a hexagon-shaped piece of the Eiffel tower in the centre of the medal and the event engrave around the outside.  Rory is currently keeping his in a sunglass case and is thinking of asking his sister who has worked for Alexander McQueen for several years to personalise the ribbon with some special embroidery.