Kathrin Boron
Mahe Drysdale
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Kathrin Boron leads 2 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Kathrin Boron at #5 and Mahe Drysdale at #10.
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The case for Kathrin Boron
Four Olympic golds in German sculling, across the double and the quad, from Barcelona 1992 to Athens 2004. Where Redgrave and Pinsent owned sweep boats, Boron owned the two-oar side of the regatta through the same years. The career sits inside the German programme that followed unification, and it is the women's sculling counterpart to Pinsent's four-for-four. Count golds and Games and she belongs in this group. Count only British pairs and she disappears, which is a bad way to rank the sport.
The case for Mahe Drysdale
Olympic bronze in the men's single in 2008, silver in 2012, gold in 2016, when he held off Damir Martin in a photo finish. He also won world titles in the single in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011. The Olympic gold came last, which is the awkward shape of a single-scull career: the world titles proved the speed, and Rio was the race the sport had been waiting for him to close. One Olympic gold does not top a five-gold crew career. Five years as the world single, plus a full Olympic medal set, is why he is on this list.