Former Royal Engineer Gregg Stevenson retains European championship gold in Hungary

Former Royal Engineer Gregg Stevenson has retained his European title alongside teammate Lauren Rowles in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Szeged, Hungary.

Stevenson and Rowles were the dominant pairing in Final A of the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls on the final day of the championships where they clocked a time of 09:15.19, finishing 13 seconds ahead of the second and third place finishers from Germany and Ukraine.

Their win marks Stevenson's first back-to-back medal since he joined the GB rowing squad in 2023, adding to the European title that he and Rowles won last year.

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With two European golds and a world championship gold from last year, the pair will go into this year's Paralympic Games in Paris as the gold medal favourites in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls event.

Speaking to British Rowing, Stevenson said: "This is my first double medal. We won the Europeans last year so to come here and do it again is pretty special.

"This is a springboard now, we've worked hard over the winter and we know what we have to do."

His teammate Lauren Rowles added: "To be out here and to be able to execute this is amazing, and to have Gregg supporting me through that – he's trusted me the whole way and trust is a key part of this partnership."

Their win contributed to Britain's 10 strong medal haul at the European Rowing Championships, topping the medal table across the finals weekend for the third consecutive year.

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.

He was named as the male 2023 Athletes' Athlete of the Year, an award by the British Elite Athletes Association (BEAA) earlier this year.