MTC

James Cracknell is one of Britain's most successful athletes with two rowing Olympic Gold medals and six World Championships to his name.  Both his Olympic finals were epic contests performed under enormous pressure with hard fought victories won by the smallest of margins.

In 2009 James was appointed Sustainability Ambassador by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG). Chosen for his ability to articulate the key areas to combating climate change to a wide audience, James will be actively involved in advising on policy issues and attending committee meetings where crucial decisions will be made.

Since retiring from International competition James has been far from idle and in 2005, he took on the mighty challenge of rowing across the Atlantic with TV presenter Ben Fogle all filmed for the BBC documentary Through Hell and High Water.  Applying the same determination, competitiveness and stubborn streak that James showed during Olympic preparations, he and Ben were the first boat to arrive in the Caribbean despite there only being one professional rower on board.

In March 2008, James achieved another giant feat, this time on his own, when he successfully completed his Cross Continent Challenge in aid of Sport Relief.  Over seven days he travelled to Africa from the UK under his own steam -rowing the channel, cycling through France and Spain and finally swimming the Strait of Gibraltar, accompanied by David Walliams and four pilot whales.

In December 2008, James once again teamed up with Ben Fogle to take part in the Amundsen Omega3 South Pole Race. Together with a third team member, Ed Coats, they raced against 5 other teams, in a bid to reach the South Pole first. The trip was followed closely by the Daily Telegraph and BBC Breakfast and was filmed for a primetime BBC documentary series, On Thin Ice which aired in July 2009.

Not just content with extreme challenges, James has also found a natural home in front of the camera. Most notably he has enjoyed great success presenting such programmes as Ch4's British Superbikes, Red Bull Air Races, along with Rough Guide - Extreme for Channel 5,  ITV Sport's coverage of the Super Bowl, Rugby 7s in Hong Kong and The Boat Race. 

James currently writes for The Telegraph as one of their staff writers. He has covered a whole raft of subjects from the fashion in Milan to the surfing in Hawaii via a motorbike trip across Russia. He co-authored both The Crossing - Conquering the world's toughest rowing challenge and Race To The Pole with Ben Fogle, was a main contributor to Body Science in 2009 and released a further book of his own in 2006; James Cracknell's No Gym Health Plan.

James' love of competition has not diminished as he regularly takes part in marathons, breaking the 3 hour barrier in the 2009 New York marathon. Moreover, James enjoys partricpating in triathlons and was recently seleceted by the Great Britain Triathlon team to compete for his age group.

James Cracknell is an experienced and entertaining corporate speaker and awards host. He is an ambassador for Red Bull & Adidas and has featured in a Vaseline for Men advertising campaign.

James is married and has two young children.

2008
Reporter Beijing Olympics - ITN News
Rough Guide Extreme - Ch5
Redbull Flugtag - CH4
Cross Continent Challenge Sport Relief - BBC
British Superbikes - Euro sport & Ch4

2007
British Superbikes - ITV
Red Bull Air Races - Ch4
The Boat Race - ITV

2006
Through Hell and High Water, with Ben Fogle - BBC One Documentary
Red Bull Air Race - Channel 4
BBC Breakfast
The Boat Race - ITV

2005
That Olympic Summer -
Question of Sport - BBC
Hong Kong Rugby 7's - ITV
Paul O'Grady Show - Ch4
The Boat Race - ITV
Sky Sports News Feature
20th Century Roadshow - BBC
The Weakest Link - Sporting Special - BBC

2004
BBC Breakfast
Soccer Am - Sky
Lottery Show - BBC

2003
A Question of Sport - BBC
Call My Bluff - BBC

MOTIVATIONAL / INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER

To view James in action click on the video tab

James' outstanding sporting achievements, intelligence and sense of humour have made him a popular choice of corporate speaker. He has the ability to tailor his experiences to captivate and motivate a variety of audiences. James speaks with a relaxed yet informative style and offers a young fresh approach to corporate speaking which is always well received. James has inspired and entertained many blue chip clients including KPMG, Ernst & Young, GlaxoSmithKline, Centrica and Abbey... 

James regularly teams up with his fellow adventurer and team mate in both the Atlantic Rowing Race and South Pole Race, Ben Fogle for Corporate Events.  Whether it is to inspire and motivate or an after dinner talk to top off a great event,  the dramatic and emotional tales of James and Ben's challenges are enough to drive anyone to take on new challenges and go that extra mile.

Style:

James is relaxed, bright and extremely charismatic. With his natural style and sense of humour, audiences really warm to his unique laid back approach.

Content:

James has 3 different topics that can make up his inspirational and motivational presentation...

Olympics - James talks about the lead up to both the Sydney and Athens Olympics and how they were far from the straightforward wins that had come to be so expected by the British public. He addresses the highs and lows of a tough training regime and the different characters that ultimately make a successful team. He offers an insight into his personal drive, having missed out on 2 Olympic games prior to Sydney and the sacrifices he made to stay at the top.  As a key member of one of Britain's most successful teams, James has dealt with having the expectations of a nation on his shoulders and he offers a rare and amusing insight into how this pressure manifests itself in the boat

Atlantic Rowing Race - James took on the mighty challenge of the Atlantic Rowing Race in 2005.  The amazing experiences that he went through with TV Presenter Ben Fogle whilst completing the 3000 mile race are a unique addition to his already exciting and inspirational presentation.  Applying the same determination, competitiveness and stubborn streak that James showed during Olympic preparations, Ben and James were the first boat to arrive in the Caribbean despite there only being one professional rower on board.  The dramatic and emotional tales of James and Ben's gruelling adventure are enough to drive anyone to take on new challenges and go the extra mile. The amazing powerful and emotional footage which made up the documentary - 'Through Hell and High Water' can also be part of this presentation.

Sport Relief Cross Continent Challenge - In March 2008, James achieved another giant feat, this time on his own, when he successfully completed his Cross Continent Challenge in aid of Sport Relief.  James talks of his amazing journey where over seven days he travelled to Africa from the UK under his own steam - rowing the channel, cycling through France and Spain and finally swimming the shark infested Strait of Gibraltar, accompanied by David Walliams and four pilot whales. 

James is happy to work to a client's brief and will incorporate specific messages or even tailor his existing material to highlight certain business areas if preferred. However his standard presentation, that is naturally adapted with each individual audience in mind, is truly inspiring and he never fails to engage his audience.

Key Points:

• teamwork,
• dedication,
• responsibility,
• drive,
• sacrifice,
• overcoming setbacks,
• maintaining excellence,
• responding to pressure.

Testimonials:

"James was excellent last night.  Relaxed, funny, poignant, steady and smooth.  He achieved just the reactions from the audience that I was hoping for and it rounded off the day perfectly. He impressed many people with his gentlemanly behaviour and friendliness."
Head of Marketing and Strategy, BT Defence

"Thanks for joining us last week and giving a fantastic talk to our HR Solutions leaders. There was nothing but positive feedback from the group. People found your story interesting and inspiring so it really hit the spot. Bringing along the medals was a nice touch too!"
Diageo

"He (James) went down extremely well. I've had loads of comments on how good he was - and how appropriate his content was to us.... People also appreciated his honesty and his straightforwardness. Overall a delightful guy and I can't recommend him highly enough!"
Ernst & Young

"Please would you pass on a huge thank you to James for his time at our event yesterday. He went down a storm - his presentation was interesting and engaging and I had many comments afterwards from people saying how much they had enjoyed his session.
So a big thank you once again."
Accenture

"Very engaging, very entertaining, very motivating,....a brief yet fabulous insight into the life of a Double Olympic Gold Medal winner...a very engaging and inspiring individual...relevant to understanding teamwork and self-development."
Morgan Stanley   

"I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for coming to our conference... The speech that you gave was both engaging and inspirational, and really made the day memorable."
Royal Bank of Scotland

"I just wanted to pass on my thanks for your presentation yesterday. It went down so well and was just what we needed to pick up the afternoon. I've been inundated with emails and people coming up to me saying how much they enjoyed it so huge thanks to you."
Marketing and Communications Manager, Lloyds TSB

"James' speech went really well, I do not know many people who can fill a hall early in the morning. James had people gripped and his sense of humour worked really with our crowd."
CMP

"What a great day! James was a great hit with everyone from the Children who took part in the relay rowing race with him to the adults that attended his presentations. He was really interesting and amusing and everyone was left wanting more when he had finished as he was so entertaining. He even brought along his medals and let everyone try them on! We have had numerous requests to ask him back again as he was so inspiring with the challenges he faced in both the Olympics and his Atlantic crossing. He really exceeded our expectations and was a pleasure to host for the day with his approachable style and personality."
Astrazeneca

Our Sales Conference was a huge success, a full day and we got through a lot of great material. The feedback has been extremely positive and we are delighted that our key messages certainly got through. I would like to thank you again, James, for your enormous contribution - discussing your challenges and achievements motivated and inspired everyone in the audience.
Esporta Premium Health Clubs

"James was a great success and very charming and friendly to our delegates.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders

"James presentation was very well received by the Kelloggs sales conference. I have had excellent feedback from a lot of people.
He came across as an articulate but very down to earth guy with a good level of humility. I found him very approachable, relaxed and flexible to fit in with our agenda.
His presentation was strong in message but subtle, and being able to tell two different extraordinary stories gave him real credibility as an inspirational speaker.
He certainly inspired our team."
Kellogg's 

"Delivery Excellent and worked well with the audience.  Very laid back which the audience liked.  Outstanding audience feedback, great delivery.  Customer happy"
Siemans

"Great stories, linked to teamwork well, especially (and as James pointed out) having worked to get Olympic Gold (where they all wanted gold), compared with Ben Fogle (who just wanted to finish the Atlantic crossing), so I thought that was a good and different way to illustrate that you need teamwork to get the job done."
Elior Annual Awards of Excellence

James Cracknell and Ben Fogle

dunnhumby hired James Cracknell and Ben Fogle to speak at two internal CEO sponsored events in London and Cincinnati in late 2007.  Their experiences and achievements, particularly the Atlantic Rowing Race which they won in the most testing of conditions, made for an extremely interesting story and was very relevant to the theme of our event which was around two people working together to accomplish great things.  They were very engaging and natural speakers, and both audiences found them to be highly inspirational and motivational.  We would recommend them highly!
dunnhumby 

"The overall feedback on James and Ben's presentation has been very encouraging Their score was the second highest overall with which we were really delighted. If you could pass on our thanks to them for such a good speech that would be appreciated."
Finance Director's Forum

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