Oliver Cook
{{short description|British rower}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Ollie Cook
| image =
| caption =
| full_name = Oliver Robert George Cook
| nationality = British
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1990|6|5}}
| birth_place = Windsor, Berkshire
| height = 1.94 m
| weight =
| country = Great Britain
| sport = Rowing
| event = Coxed pair, Coxless four, Eight
| club = University of London Boat Club
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport|Men's rowing}}
{{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}}
{{MedalComp|World Championships}}
{{MedalGold|2016 Rotterdam|Coxed pair}}
{{MedalBronze|2019 Ottensheim|Coxless four}}
{{MedalComp|European Championships}}
{{MedalBronze|2014 Belgrade|Eight}}
{{MedalGold|2019 Lucerne|Coxless four}}
{{MedalGold|2021 Varese|Coxless four}}
}}
Oliver Robert George Cook (born 5 June 1990) is a British international rower. He is a world champion and an Olympian.
Profile
Whilst in education at Abingdon School he gained colours for the Abingdon School Boat Club eights. In 2007 he rowed across the English Channel to raise money for charity. After leaving Abingdon in 2008 he attended the London School of Economics,{{cite web |url=https://www.abingdon.org.uk/fasbc_boat_club_dinner_mar17/ |title=FASBC Boat Club Dinner |date=22 March 2017 |publisher=Abingdonian School}} where he studied International Relations and History.
In 2011 Ollie was part of the Row Zambezi Expedition. It was the first time anyone had rowed the 1,000 km of the Upper Zambezi, starting from near its source on the Angolan/Zambian border to Victoria Falls in Zambia. The Expedition raised over £25,000 for Village Water. He is currently{{when|date=May 2022}} studying for a postgraduate diploma in International Development at East Berkshire College.{{cite web |url=https://www.britishrowing.org/athlete/oliver-cook/ |title=Beyond the boat |publisher=British Rowing}}
He is the brother of British rower Jamie Cook.{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/sport/othersport/15199146.rowing-cook-brothers-savour-glory-of-oxfords-boat-race-triumph/ |title=ROWING: Cook brothers savour glory of Oxford's Boat Race triumph |publisher=Oxford Mail}}
Rowing
In 2012 he became part of the British Rowing squad and was selected for the 2012 World Rowing U23 Championships in Trakai, Lithuania.{{cite web |url=https://www.britishrowing.org/athlete/oliver-cook/ |title=Oliver Cook profile |publisher=British Rowing}} The following year he was part of the Men's Coxless Pairs at the 2013 World Rowing Championships with James Foad. The pair won the B Final.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldrowing.com/assets/pdfs/WCH_2013/ROM021102_C73.pdf |title=2013 results |publisher=www.worldrowing.com/}} He won a European Bronze Medal in the Men's Eight at the 2014 European Rowing Championships.
In 2016 he won a Men's Coxed Pair gold medal at the World Rowing Cup in Poznań{{cite web |url=http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2016-world-rowing-cup-iii/mens-coxed-pair/ |title=2016 results |publisher=worldrowing.com}} before becoming a world champion in the Men's Coxed Pair during the 2016 World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam with Callum McBrierty and Henry Fieldman.[http://www.worldrowing.com/assets/pdfs/WCHIE_2016/ROM023101_C73.pdf M2+ results]
In 2017 he was named in the Oxford eight for the 2017 boat race alongside his brother Jamie and fellow Old Abingdonian Vassilis Ragoussis; a race in which Oxford won.{{cite web |url=http://theboatraces.org/news-article/303/2017-blue-boat-crews-announced |title=2017 boat race crews announced |date=14 March 2017 |publisher=The Boat races.org}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/39473528 |title=Boat Races: Oxford triumph in men's race after Cambridge women win |publisher=BBC Sport}}
At the 2019 European Rowing Championships Cook was part of the team that won the gold medal in the fours.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/48491456 |title=European Rowing Championships: Great Britain men's four win gold in Lucerne |publisher=BBC Sport}}{{cite web |title=Men's Four Final |url=http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2019-european-rowing-championships/mens-four/ |publisher=International Rowing Federation}} The crew included his fellow Abingdonian Matthew Rossiter.{{cite web |url=https://www.britishrowing.org/2018/09/from-schoolboy-crews-to-world-championships-pairs-partners-ollie-cook-and-matt-rossiter-go-way-back/ |title=From schoolboy crews to World Championships pairs partners: Ollie Cook and Matt Rossiter go way back |date=8 September 2018 |publisher=British Rowing}} The same crew then won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Rowing Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/49537034 |title=World Rowing Championships: Two gold & two bronze medals for Great Britain |publisher=BBC Sport}}
In 2021, he won a second European gold medal when winning the coxless four in Varese, Italy.{{cite web |url=https://worldrowing.com/event/2021-european-rowing-championships/ |title=Men's Four Final A (Final) |website=World Rowing |access-date=11 June 2021}} At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, he appeared for Team GB in the coxless four event. The team finished fourth after veering off course in the closing stages of the final. Cook, who had the responsibility for steering, accepted the blame for the error.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/olympics/57993590 |title=Tokyo Olympics: GB's Oliver Cook apologises after men's four row into wrong lane |website=BBC |date=28 July 2021}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{World Rowing|name=Oliver Cook}}
- [https://www.britishrowing.org/athlete/oliver-cook/ Ollie Cook] at British Rowing
- {{Team GB|7FpYpQ3ffQhyqIAc8COshy|Oliver Cook}}
- {{Olympics.com|name=Oliver Cook}}
- {{Olympedia|name=Ollie Cook}}
- {{Instagram|name=Ollie Cook}}
{{World champions – Men's coxed pair}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Oliver}}
Category:People educated at Abingdon School
Category:World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain