Peter Purcell-Gilpin
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Peter Purcell-Gilpin (born 4 July 1994) is a
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
an rower who competed at the
2020 Summer 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 ...
.


Early years

Purcell-Gilpin was born into a family of farmers in Zimbabwe. He suffered from a muscular condition that left him unable to play sports by the age of 10 because he couldn't control his shaking legs. He was told by doctors that he would likely lose his ability to use them, but his condition soon began to improve. Purcell-Gilpin started rowing in 2007, and served as captain of the rowing club during his time at St. George's College in
Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
. He competed at the 2012
World Rowing Junior 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 Decemb ...
held in Bulgaria, where he finished 16th out of 33 competitors in the single sculls event, and was subsequently named the 2013 Junior Sportsperson of the Year.


Career

Purcell-Gilpin competed at the collegiate level while attending the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
in England. Together with his partner William White, they became the first pair from the school to ever medal at a
British Universities and Colleges Sport British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS; ) is the sports governing body, governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2008, BUCS is responsible for organising 54 inter-university sports in the United King ...
(BUCS) event when they won a silver at the 2017 BUCS Regatta. They also won a gold medal in the men’s double scull event at the 2017
European Universities Rowing Championships The European Universities Rowing Championships were first organised in 2005 and were held annually until 2011. In 2012 the first European Universities Games (a multi-sport event) were held, and thereafter the Games will take place in even ye ...
held in Serbia. Purcell-Gilpin debuted at the senior international level in 2013. He competed at his first
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
, placing 31st overall in the single sculls. With a fourth-place finish at the 2015 African Olympic Qualification Regatta in the men’s single sculls, Purcell-Gilpin qualified Zimbabwe to be represented in this boat class at the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
. However, he lost his seat to Andrew Peebles during the national selection trials and instead served as an alternate while Peebles competed in the Rio Games. In 2019, Purcell-Gilpin placed second in the single sculls event at the African Olympic Qualification Regatta in Tunisia to secure Zimbabwe's spot at the
2020 Summer 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 ...
. A few days later he won a bronze medal at the African Championships, also held in Tunisia. The national selection trials, originally scheduled for April 2020, were cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. While in quarantine, he placed second at the inaugural African Indoor Championships in the men's open 2000m race and was able to qualify for the inaugural World Virtual Indoor Championships. In June 2021, Purcell-Gilpin was finally confirmed by the
Zimbabwe Olympic Committee The Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (IOC code: ZIM) is the National Olympic Committee representing Zimbabwe. It was created in 1934 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee, IOC in 1980. Zimbabwe made its debut at the 1980 Summer Olympi ...
as one of the five athletes selected to the delayed Tokyo Olympics – their smallest team in history. He shared
flagbearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...
duties with 17-year-old swimmer Donata Katai.


Personal life

Purcell-Gilpin earned his BSc in geology and physical geography from the University of Birmingham and is currently studying towards his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
at the same institution. He works as a freelance artist to fund his rowing career, and raised over $7,000 on
GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the ...
to cover his training costs ahead of the 2020 Olympics. Purcell-Gilpin married two-time Olympic rower Micheen Thornycroft in 2019 after years of serving as training partners.


See also

* List of flag bearers for Zimbabwe at the Olympics


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purcell-Gilpin, Peter Living people 1994 births Zimbabwean male rowers Olympic rowers for Zimbabwe Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Alumni of the University of Birmingham White Zimbabwean sportspeople Sportspeople from Harare 21st-century Zimbabwean sportsmen