Sir Steve Redgrave leads tributes after gold medal partner dies

Holmes, whose death at the age of 51 was announced yesterday, and Redgrave were part of the coxed four team that won gold in Los Angeles in 1984, before teaming up for victory in the coxless pairs in Seoul.

"It's a very sad day," Redgrave told BBC Radio 5 live. "It hits you very hard that somebody you rowed with is no longer with us. I rowed with him for five years and we were hugely successful.The latest British success in rowing has come from the 1980s era. It really put Britain on the rowing map and Andy was at the forefront of that.

"He was a quiet guy, a loner. He had a French degree and on training camps and regattas he would sit and just read books in French and just kept himself to himself.

"He was in his own little world but he was a fantastic athlete and a brilliant guy."

When the Los Angeles quartet broke up, Holmes and Redgrave linked up to form a successful partnership.

Although there were rumours the pair did not get along, they made for an ideal partnership on the water and they completed a trio of Commonwealth, world and Olympic titles as a coxless pair.

Afterwards Redgrave was keen to move on from the pairing and when Holmes could not find another suitable partner, he retired.

As recently as 2007, he returned to the sport, in a coaching position and later competing in sculling. Holmes is believed to have died from Weil's disease, a rare bacterial infection which can be caught from river water, after falling ill earlier this month.