Former Royal Engineer Gregg Stevenson named Athletes' Athlete of the Year

Britain's elite athletes have named former Royal Engineer and world champion para-rower Gregg Stevenson as their male 2023 Athletes' Athlete of the Year, an award by the British Elite Athletes Association (BEAA).

After being nominated for the award by a teammate, Stevenson then topped a vote of Britain's current and former World Class Programme athletes to decide their Athlete of the Year.

Stevenson only joined the GB Para-Rowing Team in 2023 where he partnered with Paralympic gold medallist Lauren Rowles in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls.

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The pair then went on a winning run, taking gold medals at the World Cups and the European Championships in his first international regatta.

They then went on to win gold at the World Championships, securing a quota place for Team GB at the upcoming Paralympic Games in Paris.

Speaking to the BEAA, Gregg said of his spectacular year: "It was eight years of work before, but it felt breakneck speed to me at points!

"Before I knew it I was sat on the start line at the European Championships, my first official race in GB colours. I was like 'How am I here?!’. It was pretty daunting.

"Everyone was laughing at me because I hardly slept the night before and looked like a zombie! I was so nervous. But I think it's testament to that eight years of hard training that built up to it."

His nominator said: "His personality and attitude towards training are infectious and I think he has been a breath of fresh air."

A veteran of Afghanistan, Stevenson lost both legs in an improvised explosive device blast while on patrol in Helmand Province in 2009.

He later became a qualified mental health practitioner and came close to making GB's para-rowing ream for the 2016 Paralympics before initially retiring from rowing in 2018 until he returned to the water swiftly and successfully in 2022.

The Athletes’ Athlete of the Year award is voted for by BEAA members past and present, elite British athletes currently or formerly in receipt of World Class Programme funding.

Roughly 1,100 current athletes were eligible to vote, with over 300 former athletes contacted.