Mohamed Karim Sbihi (born 27 March 1988) is a British rower. He is a three-time Olympian and Olympic medal winner. He won a gold medal in the coxless four at

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 de ...

, and at 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 ...

he was in the British crew that won the bronze medal in the men's eight. He returned to the eight for the 2020 Tokyo games, again winning bronze.

Early life

Sbihi was born in Kingston upon Thames to a British mother and a Moroccan father. He attended Hollyfield Secondary School in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

, before studying Sport Science with Health, Nutrition & Exercise at St. Mary's University College, Twickenham on a sports scholarship from 2006 to 2010. Before he joined the rowing team he played both association football and basketball. At the age of 15, he was identified as a potentially successful oarsman by a talent-spotting programme and joined the GB Rowing World Class Start programme. Sbihi finished first in the junior men J15 category at the 2003 Great Britain Indoor Rowing Championships.

Career

At the

2012 Summer 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 London, United Kingdom he was part of the British crew that won the bronze medal in the

eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art *The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...

. In 2013, he was part of the men’s eight that won gold at the World Rowing Championships. In 2014 he won gold medals in the coxless four at both the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade and the World Championships in Amsterdam. In 2015, he won gold at the World Championships for the third consecutive year, this time in the eight again. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sbihi was part of the GB coxless four. The team won the gold medal, Britain's fifth consecutive gold in the event. He won a bronze medal at 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 Sarasota, Florida, as part of the coxless four. He then won a bronze medal 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. ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, Bulgaria, as part of the eight with

James Rudkin James Rudkin (born 7 July 1994) is a British rower. Rudkin attended Stowe School. He won a silver medal in the eight at the 2019 European Rowing Championships. He won a bronze medal at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, as ...

, Alan Sinclair, Tom Ransley, Thomas George,

Oliver Wynne-Griffith Oliver Henry Wynne-Griffith (born 29 May 1994) is a British rower. Rowing career Wynne-Griffith won a bronze medal at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, as part of the eight with James Rudkin, Alan Sinclair, Tom Ransley, ...

Matthew Tarrant Matthew T Tarrant (born 11 July 1990) is a British rower. Rowing career Tarrant won a gold medal in the eight at the 2014 World Championships in Bosbaan, Amsterdam. He was part of the British team that topped the medal table at the 2015 Worl ...

Will Satch William Spencer Satch (born 9 June 1989) is a British Rowing (sport), rower and Olympic gold medallist. Rowing career Satch was educated at Shiplake College near Henley-on-Thames in southeast Oxfordshire. His rowing coach was New Zealand go ...

and

Henry Fieldman Henry Fieldman (born 25 November 1988) is a British rowing coxswain. He has been twice a world champion. Rowing career Fieldman competed at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Bosbaan, Amsterdam, where he won a silver medal steering the coxe ...

and won another bronze medal the following year at the

2019 World Rowing Championships The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice in the Czech Republic, and Varese ...

in Ottensheim, Austria as part of the eight with George, Rudkin,

Josh Bugajski Joshua Gregory Bugajski (born 5 October 1990) is a British rower. He won a silver medal in the eight at the 2019 European Rowing Championships. He won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Ottensheim, Austria as part of the ei ...

, Jacob Dawson, Wynne-Griffith, Tarrant, Thomas Ford and Fieldman. In 2021, he won a European gold medal in the eight in Varese, Italy. Sbihi was selected as one of Team GB's two flag bearers for the

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Opening Ceremony, on 23 July 2021, which he described as a "huge honour". He became Great Britain's first ever

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

flag bearer.

Honours

Sbihi was made a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's

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 ...

list for services to rowing.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sbihi, Mohamed 1988 births Living people English male rowers People from Kingston upon Thames Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in rowing English Muslims English people of Moroccan descent Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Rowers from Greater London British male rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire