London 2012 Olympics: ‘Humbled’ Grainger comes to terms with new star status

FINALLY able to relax after her 12-year pursuit of Olympic gold ended triumphantly last Friday, Katherine Grainger has spent the past week supporting other members of Team GB, and meeting thousands of new people.

Speaking yesterday at Scotland House, the base in London which Visit Scotland is using to promote the country, the rower revealed that, besides receiving a call from David Beckham, she had seen Sir Chris Hoy win the keirin in the velodrome, met Prince Harry, and had been approached by complete unknowns who thanked her for “changing the nation”.

“I went to beach volleyball: that was very exciting,” she said. “I went to the velodrome the night Chris won, which was very special. I went to the hockey to watch the girls in the group match and semi, and I went to the showjumping at Greenwich. I was lucky to sit next to the team leader. I did not know much about showjumping and he talked me through the whole event. It was such a privilege.

“I met Prince Harry, who was very friendly. He is obviously very passionate about sport as well, genuinely loves the fact that he can be here and be part of it. He talked about the cycling but he also talked about my experience and said I must be very grateful now I have got it [the gold]. He knew all about it.

“The great thing is that we were watching the week’s coverage leading up to our final and you tend to know the big faces in and around the ­Olympics. The nice thing is that the big names who come and watch sport are not there to be seen. They are genuinely there to watch the sport and be part of it. I have a friend who was sat behind Helen Mirren in the athletics and she was gushing about how wonderful women’s sport was doing. She was someone who really knows what was going on and was really aware of the situation and very interested.”

Although she has been well known within the rowing world and within Scottish sport for some time – at least since winning the first of her three silver medals at the Sydney Games – Grainger insisted it was only since last Friday that people had begun to recognise her in public. “Genuinely, meeting complete strangers around the Olympic Park is the thing that has thrown me far more than anything else. I have never been recognised before, I have never been stopped by anyone who has known who I was. It is happening a lot now and everyone who does is just so warm and wanting to give me hugs.

“The impact of what me and Anna [Watkins, her partner in the double sculls] did, we just couldn’t have contemplated that, inspiring people who have not been along the agonising journey that we and our friends and family have. That has been quite humbling.

“We met people the first night we were out and they said, ‘You have changed a nation’. There might be an element of truth in that, because if you have changed one person in a nation, then that’s an impact you can have. People come up to us and say, ‘You have made us all so proud’. That’s really big stuff.”