Timothy James Carrington Foster, MBE (born 19 January 1970) is an English

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 ...

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 ...

in Sydney, Australia.

Career

He began rowing at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in The Harpur Trust, born from the endowments left by Sir William Harpur in the six ...

and competed in the

World Rowing Junior Championships The World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 December of the year in which he reaches the age of ...

in 1987 and 1988. In the latter he competed in a pair with

Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports br ...

. 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 Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, competing in the 1997

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other w ...

. In 1997 he won a seat in the

coxless four A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on th ...

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 gold ...

and

James Cracknell James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British athlete, rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours List. Biography Cracknell began rowing whilst ...

. 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 abilit ...

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 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 ...

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 University of London Boat Club (ULBC; boat code ULO) is the rowing club for the University of London and its member institutions, many of which also have their own boat clubs. The club has its boathouse on the Thames in Chiswick, London, UK. I ...

, 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 Nat ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, Foster proposed to Joy Fahrenkrog, 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 , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

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 George Watson's College is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was m ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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 bet ...

Medals: 1 Gold, 1 Bronze *

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Medals: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze * Junior World Championship Medals: 2 Gold * Blue Boat Appearances: 1 (0 wins)

Olympic Games

* 2000: Gold, Coxless Four (with

) * 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 Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

, Peter Mulkerrins, Gavin Stewart) * 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 Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the childre ...

{{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