Grace Clough

Grace Elizabeth Sorrel Clough MBE (born 21 June 1991) is a British Paralympic rower competing in the mixed coxed four event. She has won multiple gold medals at the World Rowing Championships and World Rowing Cup alongside a gold at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Clough was inducted into the Sheffield Legends walk of fame in 2016 and named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2017.

Grace Clough
Personal information
National teamGreat Britain
Born (1991-06-21) 21 June 1991
Sheffield, England
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Sport
CountryGreat Britain
SportAdaptive rowing
PositionBow
DisabilityErb's palsy
Disability classPR3
Medal record
Adaptive rowing
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
2016 Rio de JaneiroMixed coxed four
World Championships
2014 AmsterdamMixed coxed four
2015 AiguebeletteMixed coxed four
2017 SarasotaMixed coxed four
2018 PlovdivMixed coxed four
World Rowing Cup
2014 AiguebeletteMixed coxed four
2015 VareseMixed coxed four

Early life and education

Clough was born on 21 June 1991 in Sheffield, England.[1] She was born with Erb's palsy and had multiple operations to repair nerve damage in her shoulders shortly after birth. While at school, Clough began playing sports as a basketball player and captain in Yorkshire. She also played on a football team at the University of Leeds while completing a degree in sociology.[2] She continued her successful rowing career while studying at Kellogg College, Oxford.[3]

Career

In 2013, Clough began her rowing career as a member of the Nottingham Rowing Club after being classified as a PR3 rower and completing training in Banyoles, Spain.[4] As a competitor for Great Britain, Clough won a gold medal in the mixed coxed four at the 2014 World Rowing Championships and 2015 World Rowing Championships.[2] Similarly, Clough won gold in the mixed coxed four events at the 2014 World Rowing Cup in Aiguebelette-le-Lac, France and the 2015 World Rowing Cup in Varese, Italy.[5] In the following years, Clough won an additional gold medal in mixed coxed four at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and the 2017 World Rowing Championships.[6] In 2018, Clough won gold at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in the mixed coxed four event.[7] After the event, Clough took a year off to heal from a pelvic injury.[8]

Awards and honours

In 2016, Clough was inducted into the Sheffield Legends Walk of Fame.[9] In 2017, she was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire at the 2017 New Year Honours.[10]

References
  1. "Grace Clough MBE". British Rowing. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  2. Hudson, Elizabeth (1 April 2016). "Get Inspired: From rowing novice to Paralympic hopeful". BBC. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  3. "Grace wins Gold at the Rowing World Championships". Kellogg College. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  4. O'Malley, Katie (7 September 2016). "Grace Clough: The Paralympian Who Went From Novice To Professional Rower". ElleUK. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  5. "Grace Clough – Rio 2016". British Paralympic Association. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  6. "Para rowing: 5 things learned in 2017". International Paralympic Committee. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  7. "World Rowing Championships: Great Britain win PR3 mixed coxed gold". BBC. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  8. "Clough doubles down on Tokyo return". ParalympicsGB. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  9. "Sheffield's golden girl Grace is new Sheffield legend". Sheffield News Room. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  10. "Paralympians recognised with New Year's honours". International Paralympic Committee. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2018.

Grace Clough at FISA WorldRowing.com

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