Zachary Jake Nicholas Purchase-Hill MBE (born 2 May 1986) is a retired English

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 ...

. Purchase won an Olympic gold medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing and a silver medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. Both medals were won in the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls. He has also won three gold, one silver and a bronze 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 ...

Early life and education

Purchase was born in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

to Nicholas Purchase and Sara Holyer on 2 May 1986. Originally a competitive swimmer, Purchase started rowing in 1999 whilst a pupil at the

King's School, Worcester The King's School, Worcester is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day school refounded by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Sev ...

. Whilst at school, he also passed Grade 8 on the Saxophone with a Merit. Following school, Purchase joined the

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 ...

team as a Junior rower.

Rowing career

His main discipline was

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...

with the majority of his international medals being won in the Lightweight Men's

Double Scull A double scull, also abbreviated as a 2x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") ar ...

with Mark Hunter. In 2002, Purchase won his first international medals, a gold and silver at the

Coupe de la Jeunesse The Coupe de la Jeunesse is an international rowing regatta rowed over 2,000 m every year. It was founded in 1985 and is open to rowers who are 18 or under by the end of the current calendar year. It is a two-day team event, with points awar ...

and competed at the

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 ...

the following two years. In 2003, aged 17, Purchase won the

Fawley Challenge Cup The Fawley Challenge Cup is a rowing event for junior boys quadruple sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames, at Henley-on-Thames in England, open to those who have not attained 18 years of age by 1 September of the year be ...

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 2005, Purchase competed at the

World Rowing U23 Championships World Rowing U23 Championships is an international rowing regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

where he won a gold medal. He entered the Senior

three weeks later and won a silver medal. Both medals were achieved in the Lightweight Men's Single Scull. By 2006, Purchase was a full-time member of the senior

, based in

Caversham, Berkshire Caversham is a village and suburb of Reading in Berkshire, England, located directly north of Reading town centre across the River Thames. Caversham rises from the River Thames, lying on flood plain and the lowest reaches of the Chiltern Hills ...

. The same year saw him suffer a ligament injury in his left wrist, which stopped him training between January – May. Regardless of this, his competed at the

Eton, Berkshire Eton ( ) is a town in Berkshire, England, on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor, connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had ...

that summer and won his first World Championship title, achieving a World Record in the Lightweight Men's Single Scull. Following his success in 2006, Purchase moved to the Lightweight Men's

in order to train for the

. Purchase achieved a bronze medal with Hunter in this category at the 2007

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany. In 2008, Purchase went on to win an Olympic gold medal at the

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

following an incredible season where Purchase & Hunter also won the

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 ...

. Purchase won another two gold medals at the 2010 and 2011

, in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

respectively. He won his second Olympic medal (silver) at the

in London.

Life after rowing

Since retiring from rowing, Purchase has taken part in a number of public events and TV shows, including ''

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show), British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, cu ...

'', ''

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme featured Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show ...

'', ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'', ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

'' and ''

A Question of Sport ''A Question of Sport'' (known as ''Question of Sport'' from 2021 until 2023) is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It was the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December ...

''. On 27 November 2008, Zac Purchase officially named an eight rowing boat at

The King's School, Worcester The King's School, Worcester is a private co-educational day school refounded by Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Severn in the centre of the city of Worcester. It offers mixed-se ...

in honour of his Olympic Gold Medal win. He regularly gives motivational speeches and hosts away days for businesses, schools and charities. He is also a qualified Personal Trainer.

Personal life

Purchase was appointed

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 ...

(MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours for services to sport and collected his award in June of that year. Purchase married long-term partner Felicity Purchase-Hill (née Hill), also a former pupil and rower at the

, shortly after the

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

in London. The wedding was covered by ''

Hello Hello is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich Cou ...

''. They have two daughters, born in 2015 & 2018.

Achievements

Olympics

*2012

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

– Silver, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2008

– Gold, Lightweight Double Scull (bow)

World Championships

*2011

Bled Bled (; ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper Carniolan regio ...

– Gold, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) with Mark Hunter *2010

Lake Karapiro Lake Karapiro () is an artificial reservoir lake on the Waikato River at Karapiro, south-east of Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge in New Zealand's North Island. The lake was formed in 1947 by the damming of the Waikato River to store water for ...

– Gold, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2007

– Bronze, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2006 Eton – Gold, Lightweight Single Scull *2005

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

– Silver, Lightweight Single Scull *2005

– Gold, Lightweight Single Scull (U23 World Championships)

World Cups

*2012

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

– Gold, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2010

– Gold, Lightweight Single Scull *2008

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

– Gold, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2008

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

– Gold, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2008

– Gold, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2007

– Bronze, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2007

– Silver, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2007

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

– Silver, Lightweight Double Scull (bow) *2006

– Gold, Lightweight Single Scull *2005

– Silver, Lightweight Single Scull *2005 Eton – 4th, Lightweight Single Scull

World Under 23 Championships

*2005

– Gold, Lightweight Single Scull

GB Rowing Team Senior Trials

*2011 – 1st, Lightweight Single Scull *2010 – 1st, Lightweight Single Scull *2007 – 1st, Lightweight Single Scull

2009 New Years Honours

* MBE, Services to Sport

References

External links

* ZacPurchase.co

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purchase, Zac English male rowers British male rowers 1986 births Sportspeople from Cheltenham Living people Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics English Olympic competitors Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at King's School, Worcester Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain 21st-century English sportsmen