GB Rowing Coach Receives coutts Lifetime Achievement Award

Jürgen Grobler OBE, the GB rowing team coach was last night presented with the Coutts Lifetime Achievement Award at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2017.

At the annual event, attended by 1,700 guests, Grobler was presented with the trophy by Team GB gold medal winners past and present in the shape of the Sir Steve Redgrave, who won all of his five consecutive gold medals under Grobler, and Mo Sbihi, who won the first of what is hoped to be many gold medals under the coach.

A man used to winning, Grobler has coached a crew into the medals in all but one Olympic Games since 1972.

The BT Sport Industry Awards is the largest commercial sports awards ceremony celebrating the best in the business and it attracts sports stars, celebrities and leading figures from across the industry.

Since arriving in Britain in 1991, Grobler has coached GB gold medal crews in each of the past six Olympic Games. Significantly, his rowers were winning gold for Team GB at a time when no other sport was. His Pinsent and Redgrave coxless pair was Britain’s only gold medal winner in Atlanta in 1996, setting a structure and a precedent for times to come.

His crews also set the standard for future GB performances, not just in rowing but across other Olympic disciplines too. Grobler’s coaching style and philosophy have been widely studied by other sports and coaches seeking to emulate his success.

Speaking ahead of presenting the award, Sir Steve Redgrave commented: “Jürgen has shown not just that he can coach gold medal-winning crews but that he can do it time and time again. Despite a career with Team GB spanning seven Olympic Games, his appetite for winning has remained undimmed. He is a natural competitor with a coaching approach that has been widely copied. But very few fellow coaches will ever achieve what Jürgen has done over such a sustained period of time.”

Jurgen was surprised by the presentation. “I didn’t expect anything when I came here! It’s fantastic to see what people are doing every day to help young people in sport and it’s great to be part of that. I still feel very strong and very motivated and I have a real passion to just carry on.”

BT is headline partner of the Awards, with Coutts, ESPN and EY official partners.

Find out more information about the Awards and view the full list of winners here.