Reed must decide his own destiny –Redgrave
PETE Reed should be allowed to quit the pair in a bid to retain his Olympic crown in the four, according to Sir Steve Redgrave.
Nailsworth's Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge have lost to New Zealand's Hamish Bond and Eric Murray 14 times in the pair and Redgrave thinks it is time they are allowed to go back into the four to go for gold in London next year.
Redgrave, who won five Olympic rowing gold medals, said:
"There is a trend to hide behind what the chief coach says, people
saying it's always the chief coach's decision.
"I don't agree with that. It's Pete's and Andy's decision. They are our two best men and they have the right to go in the direction they want to go in.
"I expect them as reigning Olympic champions to be looking to get back into the four and try to retain their title."
Redgrave also gave his backing to the GB rowing squad ahead of the Games next year, a squad which should include county rowers Beth Rodford in the quadruple scull, Natasha Page in the eight, Zac Purchase in the lightweight double scull with Alex Gregory in the running for a place in the four.
He said: "We are sending our strongest rowing team we have ever had to the Olympics.
"We have a huge Olympic history in the sport. Our best games tally is 1908 when we won eight medals: four golds, three silver and one bronze.
"In those days, you could have more than one entry in each category. So of the four races that we won, in three of them we came second and in the other one we came third."
Redgrave said all 13 qualified boats have medal potential for London 2012, although not all of them will grace an Olympic podium.
He said: "We recently had ten medals in the World Championships and the British crews will be racing the same people next year, so there should be plenty of medals."
Redgrave, who was in Cheltenham to speak about Olympic highlights at the Literature Festival, won consecutive Olympic golds from 1984 to 2000, racing in the coxed four in Los Angeles in 1984, in the pair in the Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta, and finally in the four in Sydney.
Nailsworth's Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge have lost to New Zealand's Hamish Bond and Eric Murray 14 times in the pair and Redgrave thinks it is time they are allowed to go back into the four to go for gold in London next year.
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CHOICES: Sir Steve Redgrave (inset) believes (l to r) Pete Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge should decide their destiny
"I don't agree with that. It's Pete's and Andy's decision. They are our two best men and they have the right to go in the direction they want to go in.
"I expect them as reigning Olympic champions to be looking to get back into the four and try to retain their title."
Redgrave also gave his backing to the GB rowing squad ahead of the Games next year, a squad which should include county rowers Beth Rodford in the quadruple scull, Natasha Page in the eight, Zac Purchase in the lightweight double scull with Alex Gregory in the running for a place in the four.
He said: "We are sending our strongest rowing team we have ever had to the Olympics.
"We have a huge Olympic history in the sport. Our best games tally is 1908 when we won eight medals: four golds, three silver and one bronze.
"In those days, you could have more than one entry in each category. So of the four races that we won, in three of them we came second and in the other one we came third."
Redgrave said all 13 qualified boats have medal potential for London 2012, although not all of them will grace an Olympic podium.
He said: "We recently had ten medals in the World Championships and the British crews will be racing the same people next year, so there should be plenty of medals."
Redgrave, who was in Cheltenham to speak about Olympic highlights at the Literature Festival, won consecutive Olympic golds from 1984 to 2000, racing in the coxed four in Los Angeles in 1984, in the pair in the Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta, and finally in the four in Sydney.
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