4. Steve Redgrave.

This man’s exploits in a Rowing boat spanned across three decades, landing him the honour of winning Olympic Gold in five consecutive games, the only man to ever to do so.

Redgrave stood at a muscular 6ft 5in tall and would use his imposing frame to simply power his way onto victory on the water, as he was never the most graceful athlete. This didn’t go unnoticed by the general public as his image as the gentle giant raised his popularity immensely.

For an athlete to lead the way in a any sport over a 16 year period will require intense hard work alongside sheer desire, and it oozed from Redgrave in every gruelling victory.

After breaking away from his previous rowing partners, Redgrave found his rowing soul mate in Matthew Pinsent, as the two formed a irresistible double act that captured Gold at both the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Redgrave then famously insisted that if he ever went near a boat again you could shoot him in scenes captured after the race.

Four years removed at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he found the pull of competition too great, his chance to ink his name into the record books was presenting itself and he duly obliged with a lung busting victory in the glorious sunshine of the Australian coast.

His win marked a well earned retirement after years of personal and professional sacrifice, bowing out as the most successful rower in Olympic history, he was later knighted by the Queen for services to sport.

• athletics
• olympics
• track and field