Grace Clough

Grace Elizabeth Sorrel Clough (born 21 June 1991) is a former British Paralympic rower who competed in the mixed coxed four event. She 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

MBE

Personal information
National team	Great Britain
Born	(1991-06-21) 21 June 1991 (age 33) Sheffield, England
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Adaptive rowing
Position	Bow
Disability	Erb's palsy
Disability class	PR3
Medal record Adaptive rowing Representing  Great Britain Paralympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Mixed coxed four World Championships 2014 Amsterdam Mixed coxed four 2015 Aiguebelette-le-Lac Mixed coxed four 2017 Sarasota Mixed coxed four 2018 Plovdiv Mixed 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 rowing career while studying at Kellogg College, Oxford.^[3]

Career

In 2013, Clough began rowing 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] In 2020, Clough planned to become a physical education teacher following her post-secondary studies. With her transition to teaching, Clough ended her rowing career.^[9]

Awards and honours

In 2016, Clough was inducted into the Sheffield Legends Walk of Fame.^[10] In 2017, she was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire at the 2017 New Year Honours.^[11]

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. "Paralympic rowing champion Grace Clough announces retirement". BBC Sport. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
10. "Sheffield's golden girl Grace is new Sheffield legend". Sheffield News Room. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
11. "Paralympians recognised with New Year's honours". International Paralympic Committee. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2018.

External links

Grace Clough at World Rowing