Breaking barriers: British rower Helen Glover’s journey from Olympic gold to parenthood and back

Helen Glover is a double Olympic gold medallist, triple World Champion, and one of Britain’s most successful rowers. From PE teacher to global icon, she made history at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Her grit and consistency kept her world number one for five consecutive years.

After becoming a parent, Helen returned to elite competition, breaking barriers in British sport. She became the first mother to row for Team GB at the Olympics. Her comeback challenged outdated assumptions about ambition and motherhood.

Off the water, she’s a passionate advocate for women in sport, mental wellbeing, and one of the UK’s leading female inspirational speakers. Helen now inspires audiences worldwide through motivational speaking. Her journey continues to redefine resilience, performance, and purpose.

In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Helen shares her views on elite mindset, parenthood, and pushing limits at every stage of life.

Q: As one of Team GB’s most decorated rowers, how did you develop the mental resilience needed to stay at the top?

Helen Glover: “I definitely think that mindset and resilience is something that can be trained.

“There’s definitely something innate around a lot of athletes in their ability to push themselves and to be the best they can be. But that winning mindset needs that everyday clarity of turning up and, no matter what, knowing that end goal.

“So, for me, it’s something that I’ve really learned, really practised, and probably for me, the biggest thing in terms of resilience has been learning really effective self-talk. Self-talk is a technique that I’ve improved and keep improving and will use all the way through my life, I think.”

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Q: You made history as the first mother to compete for the GB rowing team at the Olympics. What inspired you to return and push those boundaries?

HG: “I think it’s really interesting because, when I was in my twenties and when I won in London and in Rio, I definitely wasn’t about breaking the mould. I wasn’t interested in doing anything differently.

“I was really toeing the line and doing what I was told, and it felt like this magical formula – this really safe space – that, if I did what I was told, I could win gold medals.

“Then, when I had a family, I think that really changed my mindset. Because I was suddenly presented with barriers and people telling me I can’t do this thing now, or that it just isn’t for you, or just this automatic assumption that my drive, ambition, and goals had changed because my life circumstances had changed.

“Actually, I found myself a more motivated person, a better parent, and a more energised person when I had rowing running alongside family life. And so it was the first time actually – and I was probably into my thirties – that I actually ever considered challenging a system.

“And it is something I wouldn’t have done when I was younger. And I think I remember looking at my little girl, B, and thinking: what could I physically do to show you that you can go out and do whatever you want to do?

“And what can I go and show other mums, other parents? I never expected to make it to two more Olympic Games, but in the process of trying to get there, I wanted to be enough to lay down the paving stones for the next woman who wanted to try and do the same.”

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Q: How has becoming a parent reshaped your perspective on success and what it means to achieve your goals?

HG: “I always really strongly believed there was one definition of success, especially as an Olympian: getting there and winning a gold. You know, what other kind of tangible moment could there be that defines your success?

“But now, I look at success through the eyes of my kids, really. And success can mean so many different things to different people. It could be finding something you love, could be learning a new skill, or could be achieving something really personal to yourself that no one ever needs to know about.

“And I really think that, for me, success is different every day – what it looks like and how I feel about success. For me, often actually achieving that moment that I had worked for never felt quite as exciting as getting there, as that journey.

“And it’s really cliché, but the journey for me is something that I look back on and consider myself so lucky to have experienced, so lucky to have been part of – almost eclipsing that one moment where you get to cross the line first.”

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Q: What more can be done to support parents in elite sports and beyond so they can continue to pursue their ambitions?

HG: “I think that the most fundamental thing around following your dreams, especially when you’ve had kids, is that you never pigeonhole – so that you don’t do it to yourself, you don’t limit yourself to your own expectations.

“Not everyone will choose to go back to sport, not everyone will choose to go back to work or back to their hobbies. Not everyone should choose to, but having the choice is really different.

“Having the choice is the difference between you feeling like you’re stuck or like you don’t have options and feeling like I can choose now to run things alongside parenthood, to not lose sight of who I am alongside being a parent.

“And I really firmly believe that that makes a better parent. It makes a well-rounded child, it makes a happy family life. And so, choice and never being told ‘you just can’t’ is really important.”

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Q: After reaching the pinnacle with Olympic gold, how did you find the motivation to keep pushing for more?

HG: “I think after London – winning at a home Games, being the first gold for Team GB – it seemed like this moment that was too big to ever be beaten.

“For me, I knew I really wanted to go on and win again in Rio. It just felt like I had to back up that win with another. But that meant four years stretching out ahead of us, where we’d gone from underdogs to having the targets on our backs. You can only win quietly once.

“And so the pressure was going to be huge over the next four years. So, dealing with pressure, dealing with trying – the whole world watching and waiting and trying to beat us – and having to find new ways of winning.

“So, we worked with the team around us. We worked with psychologists, nutritionists, scientists, weights coaches – using the team and utilising the people around us far more than we did in the four years before.

“And I think really understanding the relationships that we have around us. So, four years later, we showed up in Rio, and when we sat on the start line, we knew there was nothing else we could have done. We had left no stone unturned.

“And that intense focus was something that I had never given anything in my whole life like I gave that four years. And so it really was about doing everything we possibly could – mentally, physically – and that teamwork and relationships with the team around us was crucial.”

This exclusive interview with Helen Glover was conducted by Chris Tompkins of The Motivational Speakers Agency.

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