Grace Clough
British Paralympic rower
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Grace Elizabeth Sorrel Clough (born 21 June 1991) is a former British Paralympic rower who competed in the mixed coxed four event. She won multiple gold medals at the World Rowing Championships and World Rowing Cup alongside a gold at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Clough was inducted into the Sheffield Legends Walk of Fame in 2016 and named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2017.
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| National team | Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 June 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Adaptive rowing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Bow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Erb's palsy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | PR3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life and education
Clough was born on 21 June 1991 in Sheffield, England.[1] She was born with Erb's palsy and had multiple operations to repair nerve damage in her shoulders shortly after birth. While at school, Clough began playing sports as a basketball player and captain in Yorkshire. She also played on a football team at the University of Leeds while completing a degree in sociology.[2] She continued her rowing career while studying at Kellogg College, Oxford.[3]
Career
In 2013, Clough began rowing as a member of the Nottingham Rowing Club after being classified as a PR3 rower and completing training in Banyoles, Spain.[4] As a competitor for Great Britain, Clough won a gold medal in the mixed coxed four at the 2014 World Rowing Championships and 2015 World Rowing Championships.[2] Similarly, Clough won gold in the mixed coxed four events at the 2014 World Rowing Cup in Aiguebelette-le-Lac, France and the 2015 World Rowing Cup in Varese, Italy.[5]
In the following years, Clough won an additional gold medal in mixed coxed four at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and the 2017 World Rowing Championships.[6] In 2018, Clough won gold at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in the mixed coxed four event.[7] After the event, Clough took a year off to heal from a pelvic injury.[8] In 2020, Clough planned to become a physical education teacher following her post-secondary studies. With her transition to teaching, Clough ended her rowing career.[9]
Awards and honours
In 2016, Clough was inducted into the Sheffield Legends Walk of Fame.[10] In 2017, she was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire at the 2017 New Year Honours.[11]