Steve Redgrave for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, carrying the torch into the stadium, where seven young athletes shared the task of lighting the cauldron at the opening ceremony. In August 2014, Redgrave was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to "The Guardian" expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue. He married Ann Callaway (now Ann, Lady Redgrave) in 1988; an accomplished rower in her own right, she represented Great Britain in the women's eight at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and
Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics the 1999 World Championship in the pair, but Ginn had missed the 2000 Sydney Olympics with a severe back injury, and Tompkins had finished third with a new partner Matthew Long in the pair. Tomkins was also the oldest male rower to win an Olympic gold medal, surpassing Steve Redgrave. Norway's Olaf Tufte won the men's single scull, and Germany's Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski won with women's single scull beating two-time defending Olympic Champion Ekaterina Karsten. The Romanian women's pair of Georgeta Damian and Viorica Susanu took gold before doubling up to help their eight take gold, giving Damian her fourth Olympic