BBC Green Sport Awards Athlete of the Year Imogen Grant wants to use her “platform” and “passion” to help tackle climate change after having her eyes opened to its impacts.
Rower Grant won Olympic gold in Paris earlier this year alongside Emily Craig in the women’s double sculls.
And spending so much time on the water during her sports career has motivated the 28-year-old to become a prominent sustainability advocate.
“Physically experiencing so many of the changes we have seen during the climate crisis – flooding, inclement weather, hot weather, really freezing weather, unbelievable rains and storms – as I am trying to train has really opened my eyes to the impact the climate crisis is having, on me directly and the entire world,” she told BBC Sport.
“I’ve been rowing for 10 years. I have seen the changes in the water. I have ridden past floating nappies, seen used tampons floating and hanging in the trees on the sides of the bank, and I’ve seen dead fish.
“Seeing the degradation of our waterways has been really difficult.”
Grant, who is in her first foundation year as a doctor having completed a medical degree at the University of Cambridge, was instrumental in the launch of the Clean Water Sport Alliance earlier this year.
British Rowing is one of seven national governing bodies of water-based sports to come together with the aim of improving river health and water quality in the UK.
Grant has also become an ambassador for the Rivers Trust and was a spokesperson for British Rowing when it announced its environmental sustainability strategy.
“As an athlete, I know that I have a platform and I have a passion, but I haven’t always had the knowledge and the nuts and bolts,” she said.
“Working with the Rivers Trust, I feel like I have learned so much and I am so much better equipped to talk about the things I am passionate about.
“I know enough to know what I am talking about and make a real difference. Knowledge is absolutely power.”