Gold Fever (British TV series)

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Gold Fever is a BBC documentary first shown in August 2000. It follows Steve Redgrave and his British rowing team—Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster, and James Cracknell—in the years leading up to the Sydney Olympics. Redgrave was aiming to win his fifth consecutive Olympic gold.

The three-part series uses video diaries to show the highs and lows of chasing gold. It covers Redgrave’s diabetes diagnosis, Foster’s injury after punching a window at a party which could have cost him his place, and Foster’s back surgery that required a long recovery. The program also features coach Jurgen Grobler.

A follow-up documentary, The Rowers Return, was made after the Sydney Olympics. The title nods to The Rovers Return pub from the soap Coronation Street. The film details the crew’s return to the UK and wraps up the Gold Fever story.