Timothy James Carrington Foster,

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 19 January 1970) is an English rower who won a gold medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney, Australia.

Career

He began rowing at Bedford Modern School and competed in the World Rowing Junior Championships in 1987 and 1988. In the latter he competed in a pair with Matthew Pinsent. He became the first British rower to win gold medals at two consecutive Junior Worlds. From there he proceeded into the senior squad. In 1993 he underwent back surgery but was straight back in the boat for the 1994 season, winning Bronze in the coxless four at the World Championships. This boat stayed together until the 1996 Olympics, where they won Bronze. Following his Olympic medal, he continued his university studies at Oxford, competing in the 1997 Boat Race. In 1997 he won a seat in the coxless four alongside

Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...

, Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell. In the run up to the Olympics, he again needed back surgery and time off after severing

tendons A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

in his hand by punching a window at a boat club party. In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, a three-part BBC documentary entitled ''

Gold Fever A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Ze ...

'' was broadcast. This followed the coxless four team in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for gold. Despite the problems Foster had had, he was in the final crew and they won the gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. He was awarded an MBE for his part in this in 2001. After Sydney, he retired from international rowing, and retired as an active rower in July 2001. After a stint coaching at the University of London Boat Club, he joined the

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...

-sponsored Elite Coach Programme in 2004. In January 2007, he became the head coach of the Swiss national rowing squad. He remained in this role until 2012, and now works as a business coach.

Personal life

At the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, Foster proposed to

Joy Fahrenkrog Joy Fahrenkrog (born November 6, 1979) is an American archer. She was born in Castle Rock, Colorado and currently resides in Lucerne, Switzerland. Early life and education Fahrenkrog was born in Colorado in 1979. When she was 15, she was an e ...

, a four-time member of the United States Archery Team. The pair met in 2000 while Joy was studying at the London School of Economics and rowing for the University of London Boat Club. His brother Jason was the team manager for the England Rowing Team and head of rowing at George Watson's College, Edinburgh.

Achievements

Olympic 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 ...

Medals: 1 Gold, 1 Bronze * World Championship Medals: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze * Junior World Championship Medals: 2 Gold *

Blue Boat The Blue Boat is the highest level boat representing the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge in the universities' annual rowing races on the River Thames, The Boat Race and Women's Boat Race. As of 2016, the women's first VIII ...

Appearances: 1 (0 wins)

Olympic Games

* 2000: Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Matthew Pinsent,

) * 1996: Bronze, Coxless Four * 1992: 6th, Eight

World Championships

* 1999: Silver, Eight * 1998: Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Matthew Pinsent, Steve Redgrave) * 1997: Gold, Coxless Four (with James Cracknell, Matthew Pinsent, Steve Redgrave) * 1995: Silver, Coxless Four * 1994: Bronze, Coxless Four * 1993: Injured, did not compete in World Championships * 1991: Bronze, Eight * 1990: 4th, Coxless Four (with Martin Cross,

Peter Mulkerrins Peter Mulkerrins (born 5 September 1964) is a British rower. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), of ...

Gavin Stewart Gavin Stewart (born 27 April 1957) is a British financial services executive and former rower. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics. He spent 27 years in financial regulation for the Bank of England, Financial Se ...

) * 1989 – Bronze, Eight

Junior World Championships

* 1988: Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent) * 1987: Gold, Coxless Four

Bibliography

* ''Four Men in a Boat'' (2004)

References

External links

*
''Gold Fever''
at

bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Tim 1970 births Living people English male rowers Olympic rowers of Great Britain Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Sportspeople from Bedford People educated at Bedford Modern School Alumni of St Cross College, Oxford Alumni of Saïd Business School Members of Leander Club Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic medalists in rowing Oxford University Boat Club rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics