A few military celebrities should be on the lookout for gold at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which are approaching quickly. In a variety of sports, including equestrian and distance running, a significant number of athletes have previously celebrated winning Olympic gold medals in addition to their military careers. The most well-known military figures who have earned gold are shown her
Stanning, Major Heather With her outstanding results in the women’s pair rowing event partnering Helen Glover in London 2012 and Rio 2016, Heather Stanning, a serving Major with the 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery, cemented her place in Olympic history. After winning an Olympic gold medal and successfully defending their championship in Brazil four years later, the pair made history as the first British female rowers. Recognized for her previous contributions to rowing, Maj Stanning was awarded an OBE in 2017.
At the 2016 Army Sports Awards, she declared her retirement. “Throughout my rowing career I have been continually supported by the Army and I am forever grateful,” she said to British Rowing. “It has made transitioning from sport to another career much easier, having the ability to slot back into a life I knew before being an Olympian was so helpful for me post-London, and now, as I end my rowing career, I have something I know to immediately throw my focus and energy into.”
Sergeant Pete Reed Royal NavyFollowing up on his historic wins in the men’s four in Beijing 2008 and the men’s eight in London 2012, Lieutenant Pete Reed became a triple Olympic champion in Rio 2016. During his officer training aboard HMS Exeter in 2001, the three-time Olympic gold champion took up rowing. In 2017, for his services to British rowing, he was awarded an OBE at Buckingham Palace.
The sun will soon set on my time as current Olympic Champion. It’s been a long time coming.
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The Men’s Eight final tonight will truly close that old chapter. I’ll be cheering 🇬🇧 Brits with my whole soul. It will be a pleasure to hand over… I hope to them.
⚓️Onwards⚓️ pic.twitter.com/iUkFKxJzIl— Pete Reed OBE (@PeteReed) July 29, 2021
Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame
Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame is the only person to have won an Olympic gold medal and Victoria Cross (VC), Britain’s highest military award.
He won the VC at Neuve Chapelle in December 1914 during World War One.
Two years later he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order medal and after filling various commands with distinction, attained the rank of lieutenant general in 1940.
Known as “Commander” in the rowing community, he was one of the most decorated members of the Great Britain Rowing Team because of his Olympic and World Championship medals. Following a spinal stroke in 2019 that left him paralyzed, Lt. Reed has been undergoing therapy.
As a member of a team of eight, he participated in a charity challenge earlier this year and helped raise thousands of pounds. The British athlete also talked about his recuperation from the spinal stroke. Born in Seattle, Washington, he relocated to the UK a few months later. “I feel like I’m going from full-time rehab to what feels like the rest of my life,” he stated. “I’m in a wheelchair so I’m 18 inches shorter but I feel like myself again.”
Kelly Holmes, Dame In addition to her 2000 Sydney 800m bronze, Dame Kelly Holmes added two gold medals to her Olympic record in the 800m and 1500m. The double Olympic champion was made an Honorary Colonel by the British Army in 2018 after serving with them for ten years before to becoming a professional athlete.
Jim Fox, captain Former Military At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Captain Jim Fox became the first British pentathlete to compete in four Olympic Games and win gold in the team competition. He was regarded as one of the key players in Britain’s invention of the Modern Pentathlon. Serving in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Fox was honored with an OBE for his contributions to the Modern Pentathlon before his away tragically earlier in the year.
During the running deer shooting competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Lieutenant General Sir Philip earned his gold medal. He claimed to have believed he was representing the British Empire in the 1924 games rather than Great Britain in his autobiography, which he penned while in captivity before making his way out of an Italian prisoner of war camp.
Lt Gen Sir Philip represented the Army in revolver and rifle contests, according to his profile on the Team GB website.