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After an illustrious career in rowing during which Matthew Pinsent fulfilled all his ambitions by winning 4 gold medals, Matthew is a champion of our time and is now turning his hand to journalism, media pursuits and motivational speaking.
Matthew is an extremely authoritative and accomplished motivational and after dinner speaker. His speeches are always tailored to the client's brief and audience's requirements with special emphasis on teamwork, motivation and communication. His description of the dynamics of teamwork in a rowing crew are outstanding and mirror those that businesses aspire to achieve.
On Saturday 21st August 2004 at the Athens Olympic Games, Matthew Pinsent CBE entered Olympic history. In one of the classic sporting moments of all time, he led the Great Britain coxless four to victory over the Canadian World Champions by only eight one hundredths of a second. The GB crew of Matthew, James Cracknell, Ed Coode and Steve Williams competed for the lead with Canada throughout the 2000 metre race and with 200 to go the Canadians took the lead. However, in traditional fashion Matthew increased the stroke rate and the British boat clawed back the lead to win by inches. At the end neither crew knew who had won…until the roar of the British supporters confirmed victory.
In the aftermath, Matthew was emotionally and physically drained. After a year of highs and lows, it was the perfect response to the doubters who had wondered if Britain could win and if Jurgen Grobler had made a mistake putting Matthew and James Cracknell in the coxless four. Matthew is now one of only 5 athletes to win 4 consecutive Gold medals.
In 1992 Matthew graduated in Geography from St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he was President of the Oxford Rowing Club. He took part in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race in 1990 and 1991, when Oxford beat Cambridge by substantial distances.
Also in 1992, at the age of only 21, Matthew had his first taste of Olympic success, when in a Coxless Pair with partner Sir Steve Redgrave, he won the Gold Medal at the Barcelona Olympics. Prior to that Olympic win he and Redgrave had enjoyed an unbeaten international season, and it was already obvious that Matthew was developing to become one of the world's greatest oarsmen.
At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 the Pinsent/Redgrave duo won another Gold Medal and throughout the nineties their outstanding combination also brought them Seven World Championship Gold’s.
Their unbroken run of successes continued through to the Millennium Olympic Games in Sydney when Pinsent, again with Redgrave (now in a Coxless Four with James Cracknell and Tim Foster) again triumphed earning Pinsent his THIRD Olympic Gold Medal. “THE RACE” in which he did it was voted ‘Britain’s Greatest Sporting Moment’ and the crew secured themselves a very special place in the heart of the nation.
After Sydney, Matthew formed a seemingly invincible Coxless Pair partnership with James Cracknell MBE. Undefeated throughout 2001, they went on to complete a unique feat in the history of rowing, by winning the Coxless Pair at the World Championships in Lucerne, a mere two hours after winning the Coxed Pairs. In the 2002 World Championships in Seville they defended their Coxless Pairs title, beating an experienced Australian crew who had beaten them in Lucerne earlier in the year and breaking the world record by 4 seconds in the process.
Last year an extremely uncharacteristic “bad day at the office” in the World Championship final meant that for the first time in 11 years Matthew ended the year without a gold medal. Although he has never needed any extra motivation, the 2004 victory was particularly sweet given the year he had endured. The crew dedicated their boat and race to Alex Partridge whose freak injury in July denied him from being part of the Four. Their performance was the perfect response.
Matthew is an outstanding motivational and after dinner speaker. He has appeared at corporate events for some of our most prestigious companies such as Procter & Gamble, IBM, British Telecom, NatWest, Camelot and Lombard.
On 30th November 2004 Matthew announced his retirement from international rowing. He undoubtedly sealed his name amongst the greatest Olympians of all time by winning again in Athens. His autobiography, “A lifetime in a Race”, which he wrote himself was published on 2nd September 2004 and whatever the future holds, Matthew will no doubt be at the forefront of any career, whether it be in rowing, sport, business or the media.
Matthew Pinsent is currently working at the BBC as a sports reporter with News 24, covering a range of sports from football to horse-racing and from rugby to the Winter Olympics. As yet no rowing!
Matthew was awarded the MBE in 1993 and the CBE in 2001. In the 2005 New Year’s Honours list he was awarded a knighthood.
Matthew Pinsent Speaker Showreel - Click play to watch a short sample video clip of Matthew Pinsent. For more information on Matthew Pinsent please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0) 208 365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk
Outside of appearing and speaking at live corporate and private events Matthew Pinsent has a number of retail products available that can be purchased through Speakers Corner. For upcoming new book and product launches related to Matthew Pinsent then please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0) 208 365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

A selection of relevant news related to Matthew Pinsent and Inspirational stories. For more information on Matthew Pinsent or details as to how to book Matthew Pinsent for your corporate event, then please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0) 20 8365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk
Matthew Pinsent has spoken and appeared at a number of recent corporate events. Please find some client speaker testimonials and reviews for Matthew Pinsent for a number of these events and conferences. If you would like some additional information as to how to book Matthew Pinsent for your corporate event, then please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0) 208 365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk
"Matthew was excellent, he really helped get across the team spirit to achieve success which the client was very happy about. He chatted and spent a great deal of time with the guests. I would certainly recommend him to anyone."
"We wish to thank Matthew for taking the time to travel to Jersey despite his busy schedule. The passion and enthusiasm shown as well as the natural link it had with our conference theme and messaging has made a huge impact on the success of our conference this year."
"Sir Matthew gave a great performance. He is a very interesting and modest man. Everyone present thoroughly enjoyed his talk. He very kindly mixed with guests after the conference and willingly participated in a number of photos."
If you are interested in booking Matthew Pinsent for your live event or require any additional information regarding Matthew Pinsent then please fill in the enquiry form below and one of the Speakers Corner booking agents will contact you within 24 hours.
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