James Alexander Rudkin (born 7 July 1994) is a British national representative

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

. He is an Olympic and two-time world champion.

Club and university rowing

Rudkin was raised in Northampton. He was introduced to rowing by his father and joined the Hollowell Scullers club. He attended

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

on a sports scholarship and then Newcastle University. His senior club rowing was from the

Newcastle University Boat Club Newcastle University Boat Club (NUBC) is the rowing (sport), rowing club of Newcastle University, UK. Established in March 1911 as the boat ...

where he was men's captain in 2015. In 2022, he won the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing (sport), rowing competition for men's eight (rowing), eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male cr ...

(the blue riband event at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

) in the seven seat of a composite Leander/

Oxford Brookes Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The university was na ...

crew. In 2023 again in

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior ...

colours, he was at seven in the Leander/

eight for another Grand Challenge Cup victory.

International representative career

Rudkin progressed through the underage levels representing for Great Britain. He competed in junior match racing against France in 2010 & 2011 and then at the 2012

Junior World Rowing Championships The World Rowing U19 Championships, former name World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 December ...

he was selected in the GB quad scull which finished in overall twelfth place.James Rudkin at World Rowing
/ref> He then raced in sweep oared crews at

U23 World Rowing Championships World Rowing U23 Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by the World Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (officially FISA; ), is the international governing body for rowing. Its curren ...

in 2014, 2015 and 2016 winning a silver medal in the men's four at that 2016 regatta. Rudkin moved into the senior Great Britain squad in 2017 and held a seat in the GB men's eight consistently from 2017 to 2023. That crew finished in seventh place at 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 ...

and achieved constant improvement thereafter. Rudkin won a bronze medal 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. ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

, Bulgaria, in the eight with Alan Sinclair,

Tom Ransley Thomas Matthew Ransley MBE (born 6 September 1985) is a retired British rower. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro he was part of the British crew that won the gold medal in the eight, was twice a World Champion and in 2015 was the ...

, Thomas George,

Moe Sbihi Mohamed Karim Sbihi (born 27 March 1988) is a British rower. He is a three-time Olympian and Olympic medal winner. He won a gold medal in the coxless four at 2016 Rio Olympics, and at the 2012 London Olympics he was in the British crew that wo ...

Oliver Wynne-Griffith Oliver Henry Wynne-Griffith (born 29 May 1994) is a British rower. Rowing career Wynne-Griffith won a bronze medal at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, as part of the eight with James Rudkin, Alan Sinclair, Tom Ransley ...

, Matthew Tarrant,

Will Satch William Spencer Satch (born 9 June 1989) is a British rower and Olympic gold medallist. Rowing career Satch was educated at Shiplake College near Henley-on-Thames in southeast Oxfordshire. His rowing coach was New Zealand gold medallist Shane ...

and Henry Fieldman. He won another bronze medal the following year at the

2019 World Rowing Championships The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice (Litoměřice District), Račice in ...

Ottensheim Ottensheim is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. At its rowing venue, Regattastrecke Ottensheim, it has hosted numerous international rowing competitions, including various World Rowing Champ ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the eight with George, Josh Bugajski, Sbihi, Jacob Dawson, Wynne-Griffith, Tarrant, Thomas Ford and Fieldman. That crew had won silver at the

2019 European Rowing Championships The 2019 European Rowing Championships was held in Lucerne, Switzerland from 31 May to 2 June 2019. Medal summary Men Women Medal table References {{European championships in 2019 European Rowing Championships 2019 European Rowing Cha ...

. In 2021, he won a European gold medal in the eight 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. At that year's delayed

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

he was again in the seven seat of the Great Britain men's eight. They finished 3rd their heat but proceeded through a repechage to make the Olympic final. In the final they rowed level with the ultimate winner New Zealand at each mark but finished with a bronze medal being pipped for silver in the last 500m by the fast finishing Deutschland-Achter. Rudkin became a world champion in the seven seat of the British eight at the

2022 World Rowing Championships The 2022 World Rowing Championships were held from 18 to 25 September 2022 in Račice, Czech Republic. Medal summary Medal table Non-Olympic/Paralympic classes Men Women Pararowing Participating nations 63 countries participated in thi ...

. He had earlier won gold that season at the

2022 European Rowing Championships The 2022 European Rowing Championships were held from 11 to 14 August 2022 in Oberschleißheim, near Munich, Germany, as part of the multi-sport 2022 European Championships. The event constituted 19 events in rowing and 4 in pararowing. Medal ...

. In 2023 Rudkin won a second successive World Championship gold medal in the men's eight at the

2023 World Rowing Championships The 2023 World Rowing Championships were held from 3 to 10 September 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. Medal summary Medal table Non-Olympic/Paralympic classes Men Women Pararowing References External links Official websiteWorld Rowing webs ...

in Belgrade. He won a gold medal as part of the Great Britain eight at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

References

External links

*
James Rudkin
at

British Rowing British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the national governing body for the sport of rowing (both indoor and on-water rowing). It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews represent ...

* * *
James Rudkin
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

(archived
alternate link
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudkin, James 1994 births Living people British male rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Olympic rowers for Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in rowing Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics People educated at Stowe School Alumni of Newcastle University Sportspeople from Northampton 21st-century British sportsmen