- Matthew Langridge
-
Medal record Competitor for 
Great BritainOlympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing Eight World Championships Gold 2011 Bled Coxless Four Gold 2009 Poznan Coxless Four Bronze 2007 Munich Coxless Pair World Cup Gold 2011 Lucerne Coxless Four Gold 2011 Munich Coxless Four Gold 2010 Bled Coxless Four Gold 2009 Lucerne Coxless Four Silver 2009 Munich Coxless Four Gold 2009 Barcelona Coxless Four Gold 2008 Poznan Eight Bronze 2008 Lucerne Eight Silver 2008 Munich Eight Gold 2007 Amsterdam Eight Junior World Championships Gold 2001 Duisburg Single Matthew Langridge (born 20 May 1983, at Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Cheshire, England) is a current Great Britain oarsman.
Contents
Junior Rowing Career
Matthew was born in Crewe, Cheshire, and grew up in the town of Northwich, attending Hartford High School. He started rowing at Northwich Rowing Club being coached by Paul Rafferty.
At his first Junior World Rowing Championships in Zagreb, Croatia in 2000 he narrowly missed out on a medal coming fourth in the double scull with Pete Wells of Queen Elizabeth High School, Hexham. A few weeks earlier they had lost out in the final of the Double Sculls Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, to the Danish double of Kalizan and Samuelsen.
In 2001 he was the first ever junior British oarsman to win the Gold Medal in the single sculls event in the Junior World Rowing Championships in Duisburg, Germany in 2001. Later that year, he broke the British Indoor Rowing record for 2,000m in the J18 category, posting a time of 5 minutes and 59 seconds.
Senior Rowing Career
Matthew raced at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in the Men's Heavyweight Double Sculls with Matthew Wells, and missed out by 0.06 seconds on a place in Final A. They won Final B, ranking them 7th overall.
In the 2007 season he won two World Cup Gold Medals, in a pair with Colin Smith at Linz, and in an eight at Amsterdam, before winning the Bronze Medal in the pair at the World Championships in Munich. He won the bronze medal at the 2007 British Indoor Rowing Championships in the Men's Heavyweight category.
In the Olympic year of 2008 he was selected to compete in the Men's Eight in Beijing. In the run-up to the games, he won silver at the Munich World Cup event, bronze in Lucerne, and gold in Poznan. At the Beijing Olympics he rowed in the 7 seat of the Men's Eight, qualifying for the final in the fastest time of either heat, 1.8 seconds ahead of the pre-games favourites, Canada. In the final, despite a late charge from Great Britain, the eight was edged out by Canada, and Matthew could only take home a Silver Medal.
Achievements
Olympics
World Championships
- 2007 Munich – Bronze, Coxless Pair (stroke)
2009 – Gold. Coxless four
World Cups
- 2008 Poznan – Gold, Eight (7)
- 2008 Lucerne – Bronze, Eight (3)
- 2008 Munich – Silver, Eight (3)
- 2007 Amsterdam – Gold, Eight (7)
- 2007 Linz – Gold, Coxless Pair (stroke)
Junior World Championships
- 2001 Duisburg – Gold, Single Scull
External links
Categories:- 1983 births
- Living people
- People from Crewe
- People from Northwich
- English rowers
- Olympic rowers of Great Britain
- Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for Great Britain
- Olympic medalists in rowing
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