Britain's Olympic Gold Medallists: Profiles
Updated: 9:25pm UK, Sunday 05 August 2012
One was inspired to greatness by the film ET, the other turned to his sport after a snowboarding accident. Find out about each British gold medallist here.
Andy Murray, Men's Singles Tennis
Born in Dunblane, Scotland, Murray became the youngest ever British Davis Cup player in 2005, when he took to the court against Israel at the age of 17.
The same year he reached his first ATP final at the Thailand Open, where he lost to Roger Federer.
In 2006, he became the British number one, moving ahead of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.
Murray, now 25, reached his first grand slam final with a win over Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals of the 2008 US Open. He then lost again to defending champion Roger Federer in the final.
This year Murray - now the world number four - reached the Wimbledon final for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. Federer again denied Murray victory, winning the final in the fourth set.
But with his gold medal win over the Swiss world number one at London 2012, Murray took his revenge.
Ben Ainslie, Men's Finn
Born in Macclesfield, Ainslie's father, Roddy, sailed in the first Whitbread Round the World Race. Ben Ainslie began sailing at the age of eight near Falmouth, Cornwall.
The now 35-year-old won his first world championships in the Laser class in 1993 - at the age of just 16 - and won silver at the Atlanta Olympics three years later in the same class.
He went one better four years later in Sydney winning gold in the Laser, before his three consecutive gold medals at Athens, Beijing and now London in the Finn class.
His victory means he is now the greatest ever Olympic sailor with four gold medals and a silver.
Jessica Ennis, Heptathlon
Ennis, 26, from Sheffield, caught the athletics bug when she went to a sports camp at Don Valley Stadium aged 10.
She went on to join the City of Sheffield Athletics Club and was inspired by Denise Lewis' gold medal in Sydney in 2000.
There was heartbreak when she broke her right ankle two months before the start of the Beijing Olympics but she recovered to win the World Championships a year later.
Now the golden girl of British athletics, she is nicknamed Tadpole by fellow heptathlete Kelly Sotherton because she is only 5ft 5in.
Greg Rutherford, Long Jump
Rutherford, 25, from Milton Keynes, is the World Number One in long jump and equalled the British record of 8.35m earlier this year.
He played football, badminton and rugby at county level before turning to athletics.
Other than Jessica Ennis, Rutherford was the only British athlete to lead world rankings in his event this year but had largely slipped under the radar.
Mo Farah, 10,000m
Farah, 29, is originally from Somalia. He grew up in Djibouti before his family moved to London when he was eight.
His PE teacher spotted he had potential as an athlete and he competed at junior level before making his breakthrough as a senior in 2006.
Farah disappointed in Beijing where he failed to reach the 5,000m final but he insisted he could improve and came back fighting.
The runner is superstitious, always shaving his head before major races and wearing the same lucky charm bracelet.
Helen Glover, Rowing - Women’s pairs
A former PE teacher from Penzance, Cornwall, Glover has been rowing for only four years.
The 26-year-old was fast-tracked into the GB team after being talent spotted for a UK rowing training scheme aimed at finding athletic giants for the 2012 Games.
She studied sports science at Cardiff Metropolitan University and then went on to train as a PE teacher.
She began rowing during her first year of teaching in Bath at a club where she was paired with Olympic gold medal partner Heather Stanning.
Glover has been sporty all her life, running cross-country for England when she was 15. She also excelled at tennis, swimming and hockey.
Heather Stanning, Rowing - Women’s pairs
From Lossiemouth in Scotland, Stanning, 27, is a captain in the Royal Artillery. She was released from duty to train full time for the London Games and is likely to be deployed to Afghanistan next year.
She took up rowing aged 19 while studying sports technology at the University of Bath. From there, she met Olympic gold medal partner Helen Glover and first represented Great Britain in 2006.
Before starting to row she was a keen sailor and snowboarder. She attended Gordonstoun school - also the alma mater of Zara Phillips and Prince Charles.
Bradley Wiggins, Cycling - Men's individual time trial
Wiggins has had an illustrious career in cycling, establishing himself as one of the best endurance riders after winning six Olympic medals at the previous three games.
Born in Belgium, he began racing at the age of 12 in London and won a bronze medal for Great Britain in the team pursuit at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Four years later, he won another gold in the pursuit in Athens, a silver in the team pursuit and bronze in the madison. In Beijing 2008, he won two gold medals - again in the pursuit and the team pursuit.
His seventh Olympic medal - the most for any British athlete - caps a memorable two weeks for the 32-year-old after he became the first Briton to win the Tour de France. He is the first man to win both in the same year.
Tim Baillie, Canoe slalom
Baillie, 33, from Aberdeen, was inspired by his uncle Mike Jones, a renowned kayak adventurer who died while trying to save a capsized friend in the Himalayas.
Dr Jones was the first man to canoe the river running down Mount Everest and was preparing to canoe the Braldu river off K2 when he was killed.
Both Baillie's parents were also canoeists so it was almost inevitable that he would also enter the sport but he came close to retiring after university because he said he felt it was "going nowhere".
Etienne Stott, Canoe slalom
Stott, 33, learned to paddle on the River Ouse as a young Scout before developing his slalom skills with the Viking Kayak Club.
He almost never made the Olympics after dislocating his shoulder during training in April 2011 but managed to recover following surgery.
Stott, from Bedford, has won a major international competition every year since 2007. He and Baillie considered their futures after failing to qualify for Beijing and losing their funding but decided to persevere.
Peter Wilson, Shooting - Men's double trap
Wilson, 25, a farmer's son from Dorset, only turned to shooting as a schoolboy because he hurt his shoulder when snowboarding and could no longer play squash or cricket.
He became hooked after a physiotherapist said learning to shoot one-handed would help his recovery. Within four months of starting to compete full-time in 2006, he was the European junior champion.
Disaster struck when he lost his funding in 2008 and he ended up working as a waiter. Then he struck up a friendship with Sheikh Ahmed al Maktoum, a member of the Dubai royal family and a former Olympic champion.
Mr al Maktoum offered to coach him for free. Wilson spent time in Dubai and the pair also chatted for hours about technique via Skype. Now he has bagged Britain's first shooting gold for 12 years.
Sir Chris Hoy, Track Cycling - Men's team sprint
Hoy, 36, from Edinburgh, was first inspired to start cycling after watching the classic film ET and took up BMX biking when he was six.
He raced BMX until he was 14, becoming Scottish Champion and ninth in the world. He was also a rugby player and successful rower in his youth.
He joined his first cycling club in Dunedin in 1992 after turning to track sprint cycling and has been in the British team since 1996.
He won a silver medal at the Sydney Olympics and then his first gold in Athens four years later. In Beijing, he won three golds - becoming one of Britain's most successful Olympians.
Jason Kenny, Track Cycling - Men's team sprint
Kenny, 24, from Bolton, was talent spotted when he was riding for his local Go-Ride Club and was then guided by the British Cycling Podium Programme.
He won gold with Hoy in the team sprint in Beijing and took silver in the individual race when Hoy took the gold.
Kenny got his revenge in the World Championships this year when he beat Hoy in the semi-final and went on to clinch victory.
Philip Hindes, Track Cycling - Men's team sprint
Hindes, who is just 19, is originally from Krefeld in Germany, and the London Games are his Olympic debut.
He was apparently interested in rowing first but was too small so he started cycling in 2008, aged 15, and honed his skills at a sports school.
He originally rode for Germany but was able to switch allegiance because his father Ian is British. He moved to Germany after being stationed there with the army.
Kath Grainger, Rowing - Women's double sculls
Grainger, 36, from Glasgow has endured the heartbreak of an Olympic silver in successive Games since 2000 but now finally has a gold medal to her name.
She looked set for victory in Beijing in the quadruple sculls event, only for China to pip the British team in the last 250m of the race.
An avid rower since starting the sport in 1993 while a student at the University of Edinburgh, Grainger came close to quitting and spent time away from the sport.
A six-time World Champion who was awarded an MBE in 2006, she eventually chose to come back and teamed up with Anna Watkins.
Now World and Olympic champions, they have been unbeaten in 22 races since they were first paired together in 2010.
Anna Watkins, Rowing - Women's double sculls
Watkins, 29, who grew up in Leek, Staffordshire, started rowing when she was 18 and at Cambridge University.
A friend told her she was "built for rowing" so she decided to have a go to get fit. Her coaches soon spotted her potential and encouraged her to apply for a national talent programme.
After graduating, Watkins started training full-time with the British women's squad and won a bronze medal in the double sculls at Beijing in 2008.
Ed Clancy, Cycling - Men's Team Pursuit
Clancy, 27, from Merseyside, was given his first bike by his father at the aged of five and immediately took to it.
After he was spotted at a British cycling event aged 15, he joined the British Cycling Academy with Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas.
Clancy specialises in the Team Pursuit and did the double in 2008 by winning the World Championship and gold at the Beijing Olympics.
Steven Burke, Cycling - Men's Team Pursuit
Burke, 24, from Colne in Lancashire, followed his mother into track cycling and first took to the boards aged 14.
He is another talent to rise up through the ranks of the British Cycling Team Olympic Programmes.
He won bronze in the individual pursuit event in Beijing, after travelling as reserve for the team discipline and only finding out he would compete 48 hours before.
Geraint Thomas, Cycling - Men's Team Pursuit
Thomas, 26, from Cardiff, started cycling aged 10 and went on to join the British Olympic Academy.
Disaster struck during a training trip to Sydney when he crashed and ruptured his spleen, which had to be removed, but he recovered quickly.
He turned professional in 2007 and became the first Welsh rider to ride the Tour de France since 1967 when he took part in 2007.
In 2008, he won a gold in the Olympic team pursuit and missed the Tour and other Classics to focus on defending the title in 2012.
Peter Kennaugh, Cycling - Men's Team Pursuit
Kennaugh, 23, from the Isle of Man, is the youngest member of Team Sky.
He went to his first cycling race at just four days old and started racing BMX bikes aged six.
Kennaugh joined the British Cyclings Olympic Academy in 2008 and then turned professional in 2010.
Victoria Pendleton, Cycling - Women's keirin
Pendleton, 31, from Bedfordshire, rallied back to win gold after a disaster 24 hours earlier when she and her partner were disqualified from the team sprint.
Following in the footsteps of her father who was a British grass-track cycling champion, she rode her first race aged nine and by 16 had been spotted by national coaches.
She chose to focus on her studies rather than train full-time and graduated from Northumbria with a degree in sport and exercise science but then fully embraced the sport.
Pendleton made history by winning three world championship golds and went on to win gold in Beijing in 2008. She is retiring after the London Games.
Andy Triggs Hodge, Rowing - Men's coxless four
Triggs Hodge, 33, from Aylesbury, started rowing while at Staffordshire University because he wanted to improve his fitness and do something "more serious than rugby".
After graduating in 2000, he moved to London and joined Molesey Boat Club. His rowing career began in earnest when he was selected for the World Under-23 Championships in 2001.
As a postgraduate, he won the University Boat Race with Oxford and then won Olympic gold with Pete Reed, Steve Williams and Tom James in Beijing.
Pete Reed, Rowing - Men's coxless four
Reed, 31, from Chiswick in London, was a late starter in rowing and only started the sport as a student at the University of the West of England in 2002.
He narrowly missed Olympic selection in 2004 but took gold in Beijing with Triggs Hodge and Tom James.
Reed, a mechanical engineer who did a Masters at Oxford in 2005, is a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
Andy Gregory, Rowing - Men's coxless four
Gregory, 28, from Henley-on-Thames, learnt to row at Evesham where he was coached by Mark Earnshaw, then a local history teacher who is now the British coach.
He studied at Reading University and won his first British vest in 2004 after joining the GB Rowing Team's Start Programme.
Since graduating, he has been a full member of the men's squad.
Tom James, Rowing - Men's coxless four
James, 28, from Cardiff, started rowing on the River Dee in Wales after a knee injury forced him to switch from running. He made his senior debut in 2003 aged 19.
While studying engineering at Cambridge, he took part in the Boat Race four times - winning in the final year.
His career has been dogged by injury but he was in the four to win gold in Beijing, after which he took a year out. More injury followed in 2010 but he recovered in time for London 2012.
Katherine Copeland, Rowing - Women's lightweight double sculls
Copeland, 21, from Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees, started rowing at the age of 14 at Yarm School and was hand-picked as a future Olympian in 2009 while still a pupil.
In 2010 she came close to quitting the British scheme because she wanted to remain based in the North East. She and Hosking only joined forces at the start of the 2012 World Cup.
Outside rowing, she spends time working with the Three Wings Trust - an after-school art group for autistic children.
Sophie Hosking, Rowing - Women's lightweight double sculls
Hosking, 26, originally from Edinburgh, inherited the rowing bug from her father who was a World Champion in the lightweight eight in 1980.
She took up the sport at the age of 14 after winning a sports scholarship for Kingston Grammar School.
The 26-year-old is also a former AFC Wimbledon footballer and has a degree in chemistry and physics.
Laura Trott, Cycling - Women's team pursuit
Trott, 20, from Harlow, started cycling with her mother who took up the sport to lose weight.
Prolifically successful as a junior, she made her debut in the senior World Championships last year and won gold in the team pursuit.
She used to be a keen trampolinist but gave up because she kept fainting. She also struggles with sickness after she races.
Danielle King, Cycling - Women's team pursuit
King, 21, from Southampton, was a swimmer and a runner before she was spotted by a talent scout.
She became a full-time racer in 2010 and won the team pursuit national title that year, then the World and European titles a year later.
The daughter of Trevor King, a double Winter Olympian in biathlon, she was a county level breaststroke swimmer before turning to cycling.
Jo Rowsell, Cycling - Women's team pursuit
Rowsell, 23, from Surrey, was spotted on the school playing field by a talent scout in 2004.
After starting cycling, she was inspired by watching the Athens Olympics and soon won her first junior national titles.
Rowsell started suffering from alopecia at the age of 10 and often wears a wig. She says the condition "made me who I am".
