Cornish Olympic rower moves step closer to making history as first mum on Team GB
Mum-of-three Helen Glover has come out of retirement!
A double Olympic champion from Cornwall has moved a huge step closer to becoming Britain's first female rower to go to a Games after having children.
Helen Glover won gold at the European Championships - her comeback event - with Polly Swann in the women's pairs.
The mum-of-three decided to make her comeback during lockdown having originally started rowing again for fitness.
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She stepped away from the sport in 2016 after winning her second gold with Heather Stanning in Rio.
Now, she has decided to come out of retirement in an effort to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
It was due to the coronavirus pandemic that Helen now feels this could be achievable. Originally, the Tokyo Olympics were due to have taken place last year but was cancelled due to the ongoing crisis, which led to the game being rescheduled to 2021.
If Helen is successful and is chosen to be part of Team GB, she would make history as the first mother to row in the games.
"I would never want to put a positive spin on what's going on in the moment but for me, I never would have considered coming back I had essentially retired, I hadn’t officially retired but I haven't ridden for four/five years.
"It would have been another four years to Paris would have been too long, six months before Tokyo which wasn't long enough after having the Twins. It wasn't really on my horizon.
"When the games were moved, it seemed like this really short time frame that was quite exciting and would never have been an option for me before."
Helen Glover