THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT Burnell and Bushnell Double6167 thirty-six years earlier in 1948! Redgrave: “We suffered from the implication that we’d only won because the Eastern Bloc countries weren’t there, even though we’d beaten everybody beforehand and were favourites to win.”6168 “When I met Harald Jährling6169 [the GDR stroke in Lucerne] during the ‘90s, he insisted that their motivation was lacking because of the knowledge they would not be going to the Olympics. Who knows? “However, I still believe that if they had gone to Los Angeles, we’d have beaten them anyway. Martin apart, we were young and inexperienced, but raw determination would have got us through.”6170 The 1984 Games marked only the beginning of Steve Redgrave’s remarkable Olympic career. Today Steve and his family still live in his home town of Marlow. The name of their home? Casitas. The Observer: “Redgrave’s victory in the coxed-fours at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles started the record of Britain winning at least one rowing Gold at every Games since then.”6171 1985 After the 1984 Olympics, Richard Budgett and Andy Holmes announced their retirements, and Mike Spracklen undertook the coaching of Martin Cross and Adam Clift in a coxless-pair. Clift had been Redgrave’s 1980 junior Silver-Medal double-partner and had rowed in the eight in L.A. As described above, Cross and Clift won the 1985 World Silver Medal. 6167 See Chapter 77. 6168 Redgrave, op. cit., p. 86 6169 See Chapter 154. 6170 Redgrave, op. cit., p. 75 6171 Henderson, op. cit. Redgrave returned to his single after Los Angeles but was unsuccessful. The New Yorker: “In the 1985 World Championship, Redgrave, trailing in a [petit] final, stopped sculling in the middle of the race. This is a famous event in international rowing circles because it is, as one oarsman put it to me, ‘the only proof we have that Redgrave is mortal.’”6172 Redgrave: “My back seized up completely, and I was unable to complete the race.”6173 The New Yorker: “After that, he gave up his dream of single sculling and concen- trated on the pair.”6174 1986 In 1986, Cross and Clift continued in the coxless-pair, and 1984 Olympic Gold Medal teammate Andy Holmes returned after a one-year sabbatical. Redgrave: “I don’t think Andy even trained in 1985. Then I did really badly in the singles at Hazewinkel, in Belgium, and nearly gave up. Coach Mike Spracklen and Andy got in touch with each other and suggested a pair. “The three of us met in a pizza restaurant on the corner of Hampton Bridge to talk about it. This was 1986, and the Commonwealth Games were going to be in Britain. “Andy liked the idea of being a reigning World, Olympic and Commonwealth Champion all at the same time, so we put the 6172 John Seabrook, Feel No Pain, The New Yorker, July 22, 1996, p. 34. Matthew Pinsent: “I think the Seabrook reference is to Henley, not the Worlds, but I may be wrong.” Personal correspondence, 2007 6173 Redgrave, op. cit., p. 88 6174 John Seabrook, op. cit. 1723
