Helen Glover

A triple Olympic medallist and former world number one rower, Helen won gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016 before making history as the first British mother to compete in Olympic rowing at Tokyo 2020, later securing silver at Paris 2024. Now advocating for systemic change in elite sport, she works to ensure that parents, particularly mothers, can excel without compromise. Helen equips audiences with practical strategies on mindset, teamwork and balancing competing priorities, showing how ambition and adaptability drive sustained excellence in any arena.

Achieving excellence once is difficult. Returning to the top after stepping away is even harder. For organisations seeking to understand what sustained performance truly demands, Helen Glover MBE offers a rare perspective. As one of Britain's most decorated rowers, Helen is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, triple World Champion and former world number one who made history as the first British mother to compete in rowing at an Olympic Games. Her journey from the Sporting Giants programme to Olympic champion, through retirement, motherhood and a remarkable return to elite sport, demonstrates the mindset required to excel under pressure, adapt to change and redefine success on your own terms.

Helen's credentials speak to both athletic brilliance and resilience. Partnering with Heather Stanning, she won Team GB's first gold medal at London 2012 in the women's coxless pairs, then defended that title at Rio 2016. After stepping away to start her family with husband Steve Backshall, Helen returned to international competition, winning European titles and World Championship medals. At the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she finished fourth, proving that elite performance and motherhood could coexist. Her journey continued with silver at the 2022 World Rowing Coastal Championships and bronze at the 2023 World Championships. Selected as one of Team GB's flag bearers at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Helen won silver in the women's four. Beyond her medals, Helen has become a vocal advocate for supporting parents in elite sport, working to ensure that athletes who become mothers can not just compete but truly excel. Her partnership with initiatives like Aldi's Get Set to Eat Fresh programme reflects her commitment to inspiring the next generation through movement and wellbeing.

Helen brings audiences practical insights into building winning mindsets, performing under pressure and navigating the complex balance between ambition and life beyond sport. She challenges conventional definitions of success, encouraging teams to recognise that achievement looks different at different stages and that the journey often matters more than the destination. Her experience managing elite training alongside raising three children offers tangible lessons in prioritisation, teamwork and sustainable high performance. Whether addressing corporate teams on resilience, leadership groups on adaptability, or organisations navigating change, Helen delivers authentic, relatable wisdom drawn from the highest levels of sport. Audiences leave equipped with strategies to maintain excellence, embrace new challenges and understand that ambition doesn't diminish with life's changes, it simply evolves.