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 The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

and

World Rowing Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

alongside a gold at the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

. Clough was inducted into the Sheffield Legends Walk of Fame in 2016 and named a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 2017.

Early life and education

Clough was born on 21 June 1991 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She was born with

Erb's palsy Erb's palsy is a paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the upper group of the arm's main nerves, specifically the severing of the upper trunk C5–C6 nerves. These form part of the brachial plexus, comprising the ventral rami of spinal nerve ...

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 Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. She also played on a football team at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

while completing a degree in sociology. She continued her rowing career while studying at

Kellogg College, Oxford Kellogg College is a graduate-only colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1990 as Rewley House, Kellogg is the university's 36th college and the largest by number of students ...

Career

In 2013, Clough began rowing as a member of the

Nottingham Rowing Club Nottingham Rowing Club is a rowing club in West Bridgford, Nottingham, England. History The club was formed in 2006 as a merger of the Nottingham Boat Club and the Nottingham Britannia Rowing Club, two historic rowing clubs that were establ ...

after being classified as a PR3 rower and completing training in

Banyoles Banyoles () is a city of 20,168 inhabitants (2021) located in the province of Girona in northeastern Catalonia, Spain. The town is the capital of the Catalan ''comarca'' " Pla de l'Estany". Although an established industrial centre many of th ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. As a competitor for Great Britain, Clough won a gold medal in the mixed coxed four at the

2014 World Rowing Championships The 2014 World Rowing Championships were the 44th edition of the World Rowing Championships and were held from 24 to 31 August 2014 at Bosbaan, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the second occasion on which the event had been held in Amsterdam, or ...

and

2015 World Rowing Championships The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at the Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette-le-Lac in France. Description The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by ...

. Similarly, Clough won gold in the mixed coxed four events at the 2014

Aiguebelette-le-Lac Aiguebelette-le-Lac (; "Aiguebelette-the-Lake"; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Égouabelèta''), also simply known as Aiguebelette, is a rural Communes of France, commune in the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the 2015 World Rowing Cup in

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In the following years, Clough won an additional gold medal in mixed coxed four at the

and the

2017 World Rowing Championships The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida. Host selection During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to host ...

. In 2018, Clough won gold at the

2018 World Rowing Championships The 2018 World Rowing Championships were the World Rowing Championships held at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The event was held from 9 to 16 September. Events held were men and women's open class, lightweight class, and para-rowing. ...

in the mixed coxed four event. After the event, Clough took a year off to heal from a pelvic injury. In 2020, Clough planned to become a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher following her post-secondary studies. With her transition to teaching, Clough ended her rowing career.

Awards and honours

In 2016, Clough was inducted into the Sheffield Legends Walk of Fame. In 2017, she was named a

at the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clough, Grace 1991 births Living people English female rowers Paralympic rowers for Great Britain World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of Kellogg College, Oxford Paralympic medalists in rowing Rowers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics 21st-century English sportswomen