Sir Steve Redgrave - Winner of five Olympic gold medals extratime

has the little bit of luck. Bruce Forsyth in winning form himself. It

is time now for extra-time. Extra time has come to Dorney Lake the

venue for the rowing events at the London of Olympics. We will make

one of four athletes to have won gold medals at five consecutive

Olympic Games. We will also talk about the sport of rowing itself

and a doping and the bans. In the suggestion that he may be the man

to light the flame at the opening Bernhard Eisel will come to this

Olympic edition of extra-time. You're a responsible for one of the

most famous quotes in British sport. Can you remember what you said?

used a four letter word I should not have used. BBC blipped it out

for the clips that went out afterward. If anybody sees me near

a boat there might could -- permission to shoot. That was the

quote. It was delivered live on television. It now sport we have a

little time together your thoughts. It was 20 minutes between crossing

the line to getting out of the boat to the medal centre. In those days,

you will well protected until that time. In it land to, just after the

finish within a minute we were giving interviews which we have

never been in that situation before. I got more emotional than expected.

Did you mean it at the time? The outer rings of a tired mind inside

a tired body? Mentally, it lasted 24 hours before I started thinking

about what I said. There was a lot of pressure on us. The British team

was not performing very well. physical motions were up and down

all week. It was sheer relief and that was how I felt. You did change

your mind, how long did that take? How long did it take for you to

come back? Of men to do not fulfil all the expectations and Olympic

should. -- Atlanta. The transport was not very good. Some of the

middle management was not very good. It did not have a great feeling.

One about Sydney? Gold medal number five. And you knew it was time to

retire? Consistency was thrown out the window. If London was four

years away, I will probably would have carried on. But it was 12

years away, there was no way I could complete at the age of 50. --

compete. I knew would be over. I made no rash statements afterwards.

You are remembered for your partnership with Matthew Pinsent,

there have been other partnerships for rowing. What stands out is your

most enduring memory? The five golds, I always wanted to be a

single sculler. The closest to have got to there was competing at the

Commonwealth Games. Commonwealth Games, I won gold. Of all the

honours I have in the sport, the only ones I had left Derby three

Commonwealth Games. Britain has an once anything in the Olympics since

1996. I am single sculls champion. Changing tack, let's talk about

rowing itself. Any sport could be reduced to absurdity. Football has

22 blokes kicking a ball around the rectangular field. For viewers who

do not get rowing, explain, if you can watch the real attraction is?

do not get it myself. 2,000. Metres, six lines, it is a little bit

bizarre. Hours and hours of training to go as fast as you can

in six minutes. It is the camaraderie, the teamwork part of

it. Rugby, football and cricket you will be part of a team and playing

a role within the team. Within the sport of rowing, or have you are

doing the same thing at the same time. You're only as strong as the

weakest person in the boat and it is a good analogy and sometimes

correct. It is not about the individuals. You may have the

fastest boat in the world. With football, you may have the strike

and win matches. And have a relatively poor rest of the side.

Our understanding team work ethic, what about the pain, delight the

pain of training? -- to you like. Rowing is an endurance sport. It is

kind of sporting Mac -- masochism. It can be very boring going up and

down training. I rode for 25 years and a Fellow of a rowing machine 20

times. That is not masochism. It is a low-intensity sport for long

periods time we or you build up endurance levels. It is more about

the boredom factor than the pain you go through. To you get bored?

Definitely. My powers of concentration of one of my assets.

I can only concentrate 50% of the time I was out on the water.

could have been twice as good? paddle down the water and you think

I would like to go to the supermarket. I am making a speech

and a few days' time and you go through what you may say during the

presentation. It is a very repetitive sport. Stroke after

stroke. Thousands upon millions of times. I have another quote for you

from the British coach. Rovers are racing to destruction. What you

think about that. I know him very well. You have got to enjoy the

pain, he says. I think you have to enjoy the winning. You train as

hard as you do because of the joy of when the boat is going well. If

it is that painful and difficult, why do it? People do it because

they want to improve. They are probably no good at anything else.

People like doing things they are good at. Because you get recognised

for doing that, you put more and more effort in. To they do it

because they are addicted to it? When I retired, stopping was the

easiest thing I did. I do a random Botha now and again but not very

often. I was out on the boat and it was the first time in for years.

You once described the River Thames is the other woman in your life.

Your wife described relationship with Mickey Parkinson as a kind of

marriage. These things take their toll? But was not me who said those

words about a mistress. If you are going to row you need some water to

do it on. Was it true? Are I do not How good are pretty sure was going

to be? What would be your medal target? The best Olympics we had

ever had with his in 1908 where we want eight medals. We won four gold,

and there were only four events. You were allowed to double entries

in that time. We actually came second in three of them and that in

the other. That is eight medals that we have got. This team

potentially could be around that figure. We had 10 medals at the

World Championships last year. We rejig to the boat around. Our top

men's boat was Pete and deep in the pair. Now they have gone into the

four. The pair that we have got now, they might make the final. But I

did not think they are going to medal. We put in even better crew

into a boat that was already a World Championship. A metal that

has been thrown away, is that a criticism of the selection policy?

Gold is what it is all about. Silver is the first loser's medal.

But we are judged by how many medals we win. I think that is

wrong. The grounds that come in, it is on the number of medals. We had

a tally of four -6 medals. That is to keep the funding. The top end of

that, six, certainly 6, 6-8 is realistic. I did not think the team

is going to get as good a result as it did at the last World

Championships. I believe that 10 is out of question. This is an

interview that is going around the world. What are these trends

elsewhere? We have got 13 boats qualified out of the 14 categories.

At the World Championships last year, over the 24 events, the best

nation was New Zealand. Sorry we were the best nation, but in the

Olympic events, New Zealand was slightly better than us. They have

had a bit of a dodgy season. So we are looking stronger. But I do not

think we are going to win as many as we did at the World

Championships. The challenge is coming from Australia, they are

coming back a little bit in a number of different categories, the

Germans used to dominate the sport when it was East and West. When

they came together, they slowly disappeared off the circuit. They

have not been around for the last six-80 years. Now they are coming

back, they have always won gold medals. I mention the previous

Olympic Games. In 1988, there was a scandal. We know it might -- Reno

the British competitors are eligible to compete, now that the

BOA has been made redundant by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

This is the law in which doping offenders are banned for life. Are

you comfortable with the door that has been opened for them? They know

the laws going into it. They know that a serious drug offence is a

ban for life. They signed up to be part of the British team under

those rules. I would like them to say, that is what the rules were

when I was competing, we have broken that by law, and from that

point of view, but then again, they have served their penalty. Both of

them have been very positive about how bad it drug-taking is from that

point of view. But there are very few British athletes that had

hatbands. I think that is because the punishment is so severe. If you

get caught for drug-taking, you are banned for life from competing at

the live pigs for the British team. If you relax those, people may feel

that they are more tempted to be able to do that. It is a ridiculous

rule that we have at the moment, internationally, for a two-year ban,

will there be positive drug tests at London, I think there will be.

And they will be free to compete at the next Olympic Games. But they

are now moving towards a new regulation. Athletes will be banned

for the next Olympic cycle. Does that feel a bit more balanced?

would be happy with a four-year ban. Bands that Nick -- take you out of

the next cycle. If you look at most sports, they have a major

championships every four years. Four years, that seems sensible. It

was a four-year ban when I started. It was only changed because a

number of sports, three sports in the Olympic programme, refused to

sign up to the four-year programme. I think cycling, weightlifting and

another one refused to do that. So the two-year ban came in to bring

them into line. We had to know what our standards, down to some other

sports. In the last ten years, we had seen that the situation, what

happened in the Tour de France, so we have had to Lola our standards,

down to something that they would accept. It would lead to uniformity

around the world? If other countries did not have a bad at all,

what I'd be upset about it, yes, but from my moral stance, I was

very happy with a lifetime ban. It is simple, if you do not cheat, you

did not get banned. What can be more simple than that? With the by

law be changed, drug cheats are now organising the selection policy of

the British team. The tail is wagging the dog. Because of the

situation that they have been in, it is their human rights situation.

I am a father of three. If they see drug cheats being able to compete

at the highest level, and been banned from doing that, and then

coming back, that is the wrong message to our teenagers. It is not

about the human rights of the individual cheat that has been

cheating. In fairness to David Millar, he is a reformed character.

I do not have any problems with his reformed character. Our system of

banned for life, that he accepted, it worked. The Olympic torch relay.

You have mentioned it already. Does it still embody the symbolism that

it boasts, or is it just a vocation for people to be famous for 15

minutes? The Olympic torch has not been a round the Games for that

long. I think Berlin was the first Games. So it does not go back to

the regional. Yes there was a flame, from that point of view. But I

think it is very special. It is special for one very good reason,

when I signed up to help the bid process, of trying to get the Games

over here, it was not about the elite athletes, I wanted to have

more people to be able to touch the Olympic programme. It is less than

1% of the public to actually get to compete in the Games. If he had

been lucky enough in the ballot, you may have some tickets, to go

along and watch from that point of view, and I think the spectators

inside the stadiums, they are going to be packed. As an athlete, it was

very frustrating when you are going into stadiums and they say there

are no tickets available, and it was half empty. That is not going

to happen at London. It gives people the opportunity at been able

to touch the flame. What LOCOG had done a fantastic job, if you were

lucky enough to carry the torch, it would have your number put on it,

it would be taken away and you would receive it at a later stage

if you went and brought it. The London torches had been de aren't

immediately, so the members of the public are walking away with their

torch. That is great for the person. It is also great for the thousands

and thousands of people who go out and watch. They are back in their

cars, back on the community, showing the torch on the day that

they carried it. When were you get to like the Olympic flame? I have

not been told officially. Do not even worry about what is happening.

You are the bookies' favourite. think that is quite sad because it

never goes to the favourite. You look back through history, the

organisers want a surprise. They want people to be asking questions

of who that person may be. I would laugh to do it, that is no question

about that. I would laugh to be playing a part in the opening