Steve Redgrave
Mahe Drysdale
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Steve Redgrave leads 4 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Steve Redgrave at #1 and Mahe Drysdale at #10.
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The case for Steve Redgrave
Five Olympic golds in five Games: the coxed four in 1984, the coxless pair in 1988, 1992 and 1996, and the coxless four in 2000. He also won an Olympic bronze in the coxed pair in 1988, six Olympic medals in all, and nine World Championship golds. No other man has won an Olympic rowing gold at five Games. The partners changed, from Andy Holmes to Matthew Pinsent to the Sydney four, which is the right way to read the record: the constant was the standard he required of the boat, including after a diabetes diagnosis on the way to Sydney.
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.