Gold Medal winning Olympian makes an impact on her visit to Rugby High School

Lauren was welcomed with red carpet treatment and an arch of oars and brought her incredibly heavy gold medal for staff and students to admire. Lauren answered many and varied questions, sharing the ups and downs of training and competing and how fortunate she feels to do something she loves as a career.

When quizzed about pre-race rituals, Lauren explained her dedication to ice baths and compression socks and when asked about the downsides of rowing she revealed she had had 12 broken ribs in 3 years!

After re-watching the finale of her race, Lauren spoke about being in a good position at the back of the boat to determine if they had won; she wasn't 100% sure though and waited for it to be announced on the scoreboard before slapping the water in celebration. Lauren said it was amazing to see how much it means to your family to see you achieve your dreams!

One tricky question Lauren faced was ‘who her favourite teacher was’ and she declared that she enjoyed GCSE PE, remembered all her form tutors and recalled how supportive the school had been when her rowing became such a huge part of her life during A Levels.

Lauren admitted the rumours were true and the food at the Olympic village was pretty poor and the cardboard beds there were exactly as uncomfortable as you would expect and it was fortunate the rowing lake was an hour away so they weren’t based at the village the whole time.

After the Q and A sessions, students queued up for autographs and selfies and Lauren even signed a pencil case; though that isn’t the most unusual autograph request as at a local primary school she was recently asked to sign a sock and a leaf!

Rugby High extends its thanks to Lauren for visiting and sharing her Olympic experience with us all and wishes her every future success - in keeping with Rugby High School’s motto, she truly has achieved the heights set in her heart.