Rio 2016 rowing: Helen Glover left to pay back family and friends with gold medal for Olympic sacrifices

Helen Glover won Britain’s first gold in London. She tells Simon Collings about the pressure to do it again

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning haven't lost a race in five years (Getty)

As Helen Glover explains what it took to become the No 1 female rower in the world, it is no surprise to hear about her gruelling training regime.

Indeed, the fact that this interview is taking place after her 7am session – the first of three that day – tells you all you need to know about the physical demands.

But what does stop you in your tracks is when Glover talks about events she has been absent from during her journey to the top. Parties, weddings, even funerals have all been missed. All so she should become an Olympic champion.

“It goes without saying that you miss things,” Glover says. “You can’t travel to see your friends every week and things like that. You don’t realise until you are in the thick of the sport but you have to miss funerals, weddings.

“You miss the big moments that people in your family will look back and talk about – but you weren’t there because you were training. So what you can do is pay them back by getting to that podium,” she said.

“Rowing is notoriously a tough sport. It requires a lot of training – in terms of hours and intensity as well. So every day we usually train three times a day.”

The use of the word “tough” is by no means an exaggeration, in fact if anything it is an understatement.

The crack-of-dawn alarm call for this interview was bad enough for me, but the fact that for Glover this is normal life is a testament to the dedication required to make it to the top.

And the summit is just where Glover is, for along with her partner Heather Stanning, she has completed the clean sweep of becoming European, Olympic and world champion in the women’s coxless pairs. They haven’t lost a race since 2011.

But when she talks about what is in store for the rest of the day, it is perhaps unsurprising that Glover has made it to where she is.

“We have been out already at 7am on the water for an hour and a half,” she adds. “We go out again for a similar session and then our third session will be in the gym lifting weights. So especially in the winter months, it is a lot of hours in the cold and the wind and the rain. Our regime is six to seven days a week – we occasionally get a Sunday off if the coaches are feeling kind.”

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning clinched Team GB's first gold medal at London 2012 (Getty)

Now the challenge for Glover is to defeat the opposition and finish on the top of the podium in Rio de Janeiro – just as she did four years ago. Back then in London, Glover and Stanning were very much under the radar before they won Team GB’s first gold of a record-breaking Olympic Games.

Now though, given their wealth of victories and records, the bullseye is on the British pair as they look to defend their title.

“I think heading into Rio we are in a totally different place to where we were for London,” says Glover.

“Going into London, even though we had actually had a really good two years together, Heather and I were pretty anonymous.

“We knew, quietly, that we were going there to win and anything but gold would be a huge disappointment. But being underdogs is almost easy because the pressure is less.

Glover and Stanning will be expected to retain their Olympic crown (Getty)

“Going into Rio we can’t hide from the fact that, not only are we looking for that top spot, but we have put our hands up and said that’s what we are going for because we haven’t lost a race since London.

“I think for us when we get to the start line in Rio those wins will almost mean very little. We are going to have to have the same respect for the competition as we always have. We are going to have the same drive and will power.

“Everybody is going to want to win that race. It doesn’t matter that we won the races in between. It doesn’t matter that we have won all these races if we lose in Rio, that will be the result that stands.

“In terms of the Olympics, anything can happen and that is what we have to keep our eyes open with.”