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 The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...

and

World Rowing Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each even ...

alongside a gold at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

. Clough was inducted into the

Sheffield Legends Sheffield Legends is a Walk of Fame located outside Sheffield Town Hall honouring famous people from or connected to Sheffield. As in Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Hollywood version, there are plaques with famous people's names on them and why they a ...

Walk of Fame in 2016 and named a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2017.

Early life and education

Clough was born on 21 June 1991 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was born with

Erb's palsy Erb's palsy is a paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the upper group of the arm's main nerves, specifically the severing of the upper trunk C5–C6 nerves. These form part of the brachial plexus, comprising the ventral rami of spinal nerves ...

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 Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. She also played on a football team at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

while completing a degree in sociology. She continued her rowing career while studying at

Kellogg College, Oxford Kellogg College is a graduate-only constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1990 as Rewley House, Kellogg is the university's 36th college and the largest by number of students. It hosts research centres including ...

Career

In 2013, Clough began rowing as a member of the

Nottingham Rowing Club Nottingham Rowing Club is a rowing club in West Bridgford, Nottingham. The club was formed in 2006 as a merger of the Nottingham Boat Club and the Nottingham Britannia Rowing Club, two historic rowing clubs that were established in 1894 and 18 ...

after being classified as a PR3 rower and completing training in

Banyoles Banyoles () is a city of 20,168 inhabitants (2021) located in the province of Girona in northeastern Catalonia, Spain. The town is the capital of the Catalan Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' "Pla de l'Estany". Although an established indust ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. As a competitor for Great Britain, Clough won a gold medal in the mixed coxed four at the

2014 World Rowing Championships The 2014 World Rowing Championships were the 44th edition of the World Rowing Championships and were held from 24 to 31 August 2014 at Bosbaan, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the second occasion on which the event had been held in Amsterdam, or ...

and

2015 World Rowing Championships The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette in France. Description The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the Int ...

. Similarly, Clough won gold in the mixed coxed four events at the 2014

Aiguebelette-le-Lac Aiguebelette-le-Lac () is a commune and village in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. In 2016, it had a population of 249 people. It is named after and lies near the southeastern shore of Lac d'Aigue ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the 2015 World Rowing Cup in

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In the following years, Clough won an additional gold medal in mixed coxed four at the

and the

2017 World Rowing Championships The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida. Host selection During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to hos ...

. In 2018, Clough won gold at the

2018 World Rowing Championships The 2018 World Rowing Championships were the World Rowing Championships held at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The event was held from 9 to 16 September. Events held were men and women's open class, lightweight class, and para-rowing. ...

in the mixed coxed four event. After the event, Clough took a year off to heal from a pelvic injury. In 2020, Clough planned to become a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher following her post-secondary studies. With her transition to teaching, Clough ended her rowing career.

Awards and honours

In 2016, Clough was inducted into the

Walk of Fame. In 2017, she was named a

at the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clough, Grace 1991 births Living people English female rowers Paralympic rowers for Great Britain World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of Kellogg College, Oxford Paralympic medalists in rowing Rowers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics