Luca Grubor learnt to row in Croatia and competed for Yugoslavia at junior level and for Croatia at three world championships before leaving for England to study at Imperial College, London. After taking the mandatory three years away from international competition he reappeared in 1998 as part of the British coxed four. The following year he moved to the eight and 1999 turned out to be a year of second place finishes when after being runners-up at each of the World Cup races, they won the silver medal at the World Championships. Silver turned to gold at the Sydney Olympics as Grubor’s crew won the first gold medal by a British eight since the Stockholm Games of 1912. He continued to row internationally for another two years and bowed out of the sport after winning his only World Championship gold medal (in the coxed fours) in 2002. Grubor is now a director of a company which runs sailing holidays in the Mediterranean.
Great Britain