James Cracknell began rowing whilst attending the independent Kingston Grammar School and rowed at the Junior World Championships in 1989 and 1990, winning a gold medal in 1990.
28 Facts About James Cracknell
2.
James Cracknell graduated from the University of Reading as a Bachelor of Science in Human Geography in 1993, followed by a PGCE at the Institute of Education and a Master of Science from Brunel University in 1999.
3.
However, in 2003 a disappointing season was capped by a failure to win the World Championships, and Pinsent and James Cracknell were shifted into the coxless four, with Steve Williams and Alex Partridge.
4.
On 4 March 2006, James Cracknell's home was burgled: his Olympic gold medals were stolen, together with his wedding ring and a computer containing 20,000 words of a new book and family photographs.
5.
James Cracknell ran the London Marathon on 23 April 2006, in a time of 3 hours, finishing over an hour ahead of his rowing teammate Matthew Pinsent.
6.
In January 2008 James Cracknell set up Threshold Sports with Julian Mack and Charlie Beauchamp.
7.
In July 2008 James Cracknell competed in the European Triathlon Championships for GBR for his age group and in November 2009 he took part in the New York Marathon.
8.
James Cracknell's exploits were filmed for a Discovery Channel documentary The Toughest Race on Earth to be aired in October 2010.
9.
Six months after his cycling accident which damaged his frontal lobe, James Cracknell competed in the Yukon Arctic Ultra.
10.
James Cracknell finished second in the 430-mile race across the frozen Alaskan countryside, beaten only by British cyclist Alan Sheldon who beat Cracknell's 163:20 with his own 99:30.
11.
James Cracknell ran the 2012 London Marathon in just under three hours, one of the fastest celebrities, but behind Nell McAndrew.
12.
In 2018, James Cracknell enrolled at Peterhouse, Cambridge to study for a MPhil degree in human evolution.
13.
On 7 April 2019, James Cracknell became the oldest competitor, and oldest winner, for Cambridge in the 2019 Boat Race; at the age of 46 he became the oldest rower in the event's history by 10 years.
14.
In 2019, James Cracknell participated in the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, where he was partnered with professional dancer Luba Mushtuk.
15.
James Cracknell was the first celebrity to be eliminated from the show after losing the dance off to David James and Nadiya Bychkova.
16.
James Cracknell competed in the third series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
17.
In 2021, James Cracknell again ran the London Marathon with a time of 2:55:39.
18.
James Cracknell has presented sport on ITV, Channel 4 and BBC.
19.
James Cracknell covered The Boat Race 2007 with Mark Durden-Smith for ITV and is the presenter of ITV's coverage of the British Superbike Championship.
20.
James Cracknell is the main presenter of Channel 4's Red Bull Air Race World Series coverage.
21.
James Cracknell is a contracted columnist with The Daily Telegraph writing about various topics including sport, motoring, gardening, cookery and others.
22.
From 27 February 2008 James Cracknell covered over 1,400 miles from Britain to Africa in 10 days, rowing, cycling and swimming.
23.
James Cracknell rowed from Dover, England to Cap Gris Nez, France, then cycled to Tarifa, Spain, and finally swam across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa to Punta Cires, Morocco.
24.
In January 2009, James Cracknell took part in the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race with his TV presenter friend Ben Fogle and Dr Ed Coats as members of Team QinetiQ, finishing in second, 20 hours behind the winning Norwegian team.
25.
On 20 July 2010, James Cracknell was hit from behind by a petrol tanker whilst cycling during an attempt to cycle, row, run and swim from Los Angeles to New York within 18 days.
26.
James Cracknell has attributed his survival to wearing a cycle helmet at the time.
27.
In October 2013, James Cracknell was announced as a Conservative candidate in South West England and Gibraltar, together with Ashley Fox, Julie Girling, Georgina Butler, Sophia Swire and Melissa Maynard.
28.
In May 2023, it was reported James Cracknell was seeking to be the prospective parliamentary candidate for Henley at the next general election, following the announcement of the retirement of John Howell.