When Great Britain won gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympics coxless four, seven million people watched and voted it the greatest sporting moment of the year. This moment, and Steve Redgrave's fifth Olympic gold medal, has eclipsed the long and troubled journey four men made to peak at exactly the right time. Tim Foster brings vividly to life what it's like to be one of four headstrong, and at times conflicting, personalities, and reveals how close they all came to implosion as the Sydney Olympics approached.
Rory Ross has been a journalist since graduating from Cambridge where he read history. He is now a freelance contributor to publications such as Tatler and the Daily Telegraph. He rowed against Steve Redgrave at Marlow Regatta in 1979 - and lost. Tim Foster, 32, is one of Britain's most successful oarsmen - the first to win two successive Wolrd Junior Championship gold medals. He is now chief coach at University of London Boat Club. Rory Ross has been a journalist since graduating from Cambridge where he read history. He is now a freelance contributor to Tatler, the Daily Telegraph, Town & Country (NYC), Forbes (NYC) and ACP (Sydney). He rowed against Steve Redgrave at Marlow Regatta in 1979, and lost.