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Martin Cross

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For the Australian rules footballer, see Martin Cross (footballer).

Martin Cross
Personal information
Born19 July 1957
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Los Angeles Coxed four
Bronze medal – third place 1980 Moscow Coxless four
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Karapiro Coxless four

Martin Patrick Cross (born 19 July 1957) is a British oarsman. He won the gold medal in the coxed four at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics with Redgrave, Budgett, Andy Holmes and Adrian Ellison.

Early life and education

Born in London, Cross was educated at Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School[1] He studied at Queen Mary, University of London, rowing for the college boat club.[2]

Career

Rowing

Cross won the gold medal in the coxed four at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics with Steve Redgrave, Richard Budgett, Andy Holmes, and Adrian Ellison.

He won a gold medal in the coxed fours at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, silver medals in the coxless fours at the World Junior Championships in 1975 and in coxless pairs at the World Championships in 1985, and bronze medals in the coxless fours at the World Championships in 1978 and 1979 and the Olympics in 1980, and in the eight at the World Championships in 1991.

He has been described by his close friends as "An inspiration to not just the rowing world, but the whole of the sporting world."[3] Cross now lives with his wife, three children and two dogs in London.

Writing and journalism

He published an autobiography, Olympic Obsession in 2001,[4] and is currently working part-time as a history and politics teacher at Hampton School. He writes about rowing for The Guardian and co-commentates with Greg Searle for the International Rowing Federation on the World Rowing Cup and World Rowing Championships events.[5]

Media appearance

Cross appears as a cameo in the 2004 romantic hit The Notebook. Although his work is uncredited, his character of "Rower" appears first in the credits list – something which co-star Ryan Gosling has described as "well-deserved." The Canadian once commented, "I could not expect to be credited above an Olympic gold medalist! It was such an honor to appear on the same list as Martin, and I'm pleased to be able to call him my friend." Coincidentally, Cross also taught Gosling how to row in order to ensure that the film's famous lake scene was authentic.

References

  1. ^ "Who wants to be a cox?". Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Alumni". QMUL Boat Club. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Who are some of the most famous alumni of QMUL?". tutored.me. 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Olympic Obsession: The Inside Story of Britain's Most Successful Sport. Breedon Books ISBN 978-1-85983-233-2
  5. ^ "The official site of World Rowing - worldrowing.com".
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