As gold-medal winning runs go, rower Alex Gregory boasts one of the best in the business since he helped the men’s four to the Olympic title at London 2012.
European gold in first the men’s four and eight in 2014 and 2015 respectively, not to mention a hat-trick of world titles from 2013-2015, Gregory is one of Great Britain rowing’s leading lights going into next year’s Olympic Games.
But for a man who lists British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton as one of his ideal dinner dates, Gregory knows the journey to the top is not always straight forward – and that nothing, especially in rowing, can be taken for granted.
“If you win a race you can’t go wrong. It puts you in the best position and gives you the best chance of a good position next time and the best chance of your ranking within the team,” he said.
“That’s the aim with everyone. It’s tough and it’s competitive. But you can’t win all the time.
"I’ve got people biting at my heels and I’m biting at other people’s heels.
“I just have to be making sure that I’m training hard and doing everything I can to stay healthy and fit.”
Indeed, a quick glance at the Cheltenham-born rower’s early career shows the 31-year-old has been through his fair shares of highs and lows.
A relative latecomer to the sport after learning to row while completing his A-levels, Gregory won his first GB vest in 2004 at the Under-23 World Championships in Poland but it took him another five years to win his first major Championship medal – a gold in the men’s four at the Worlds in 2009.
That came a year after a season where Great Britain men’s quad narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification for Beijing 2008 – Gregory instead selected as a reserve for the Games.
He then made the decision to swap sculling for sweep rowing and with a new outlook on the sport, Gregory started to make serious inroads in the sport.
In the six World Championships he has contested since succeeding in 2009, Gregory has failed to climb top spot on the medal rostrum just once – when the men’s four finished fourth in 2010.
The latest of those saw him triumph as part of the men’s eight in the French town of Aiguebelette last month – a result that saw the team qualify a boat for Rio 2016.
Although Gregory, who will compete for Leander Rowing Club at this weekend’s British Rowing Championships, is well aware the hard part is only just beginning if he wants to make it back-to-back Olympic golds in 2016.
“Winning the World Championships and qualifying a boat was a great way to finish the year and it’s the best position to be in going into the Olympics,” he added.
“But the job isn’t done and as our coach reminds us all the time, losers train harder so those Germans and all the other nations we beat are going to be going at us.
“Through the winter period we have a series of tests and trials. Basically after the World Championships, the slate is wiped clean within the team and we have to earn our place back within the team.
“We have to earn our seat back in the boats. Every test and every trial is important, in fact every day is important.
“This year is everything, this is what we dedicate our lives to. Once every four years it’s the Olympic year and the Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport.
“The Olympics is everything to us. So this year is really exciting, it’s going to be nerve wracking, tense, highly competitive but this is what it’s all about.”
© Sportsbeat 2015