Katherine Sarah Copeland

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 1 December 1990) is a retired British

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

winning

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

Personal life

She was born in

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

, to vet parents Derek and Penny (they owned Copeland Veterinary Surgey, in Ingleby Barwick in 2012). She was 14 when she first learnt to row at

Yarm School Yarm School is a co-educational independent day school in Yarm, North Yorkshire in the North East of England. The school accepts pupils aged 3–18 years old and has a Nursery Pre-Prep, Preparatory School, Senior School and Sixth Form. The Sch ...

. She is a member of

Tees Rowing Club Tees Rowing Club is a rowing club based on the River Tees in Northeast England. The club was founded in 1864. The Roll of Honour at the club includes 2012 Olympic Gold medal winner Kat Copeland and 2016 Paralympic Gold medal winner Laurence W ...

, Stockton-on-Tees. As a teacher, she also runs an after school art club for autistic children in conjunction with the Three Wings Trust. She was appointed

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 ...

(MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to rowing. In July 2017 she received an Honorary Degree from

Teesside University , mottoeng = Deeds Not Words , established = 1930 – Constantine Technical College1969 – as Teesside Polytechnic 1992 – gained university status , type = Public , endowment = £0.23 m (2019/20) , chancellor ...

Career

An U23 World Champion in the women's lightweight single sculls, in 2012, she was selected to represent Great Britain in the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the Women's lightweight double sculls with

Sophie Hosking Sophie Hannah Marguerite Hosking MBE (born 25 January 1986) is a retired British rower. Personal life Hosking was born in 1986. The lightweight rower David Hosking is her father. She attended Kingston Grammar School in London, before completi ...

, winning the gold medal, during the so-called "Super Saturday". Katherine, being brought up in Ingleby Barwick and as a part of the

2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics gold post boxes To commemorate British gold medal winners at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, various post boxes in the home towns of the medal winners around the United Kingdom, plus one each on Sark and the Isle of Man, were repainted gol ...

commemoration, had a red post box in The Rings village of Ingleby Barwick painted gold in her name, with a plaque about the gold medal win. Following her Olympic partner Hosking's retirement in 2012, Copeland partnered with Imogen Walsh in the lightweight double sculls, winning European bronze in 2014. Copeland went on to partner Charlotte Taylor, winning silver at the

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 ...

and gold at the 2015 European Rowing Championships. Copeland and Taylor finished 14th in Women's lightweight double sculls at the 2016

Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

. Copeland won another European bronze medal in the lightweight double sculls in 2017, this time with

Emily Craig Emily Craig (born 30 November 1992) is a British lightweight three-time world champion rower. Rowing career Craig was part of the British team that topped the medal table at the 2015 World Rowing Championships at Lac d'Aiguebelette in France, ...

. Copeland announced her retirement from competitive rowing in January 2019.

References

1990 births Living people English female rowers Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Olympic rowers of Great Britain Sportspeople from Ashington Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in rowing Members of the Order of the British Empire Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain European Rowing Championships medalists {{UK-rowing-bio-stub