Who said you should never meet your hero?

Rowing: It was strange, on coming back from Athens, to realise Matthew Pinsent had moved on to a whole new level of fame because he had broken down after winning his fourth gold medal. For some the peerless oarsman had become Gazza Two, another English icon with incontinent eyes, writes Liam Gorman

Pinsent himself seems to cringe at the comparison, but his good manners will not allow him to cut loose on the topic. For this well-spoken son of a minister is polite to a degree which is extraordinary in the modern age.

Polite to a degree which would make most Irish people wonder was there another side. But there doesn't seem to be. He is the quintessential decent Englishman.

Rowing is a sport which is as close to truly amateur as any international activity, and virtually all the top stars park their egos with their boats at the end of a race. But Pinsent is extraordinary even in rowing.

Regatta after regatta this huge man climbs out of his boat, often in searing temperatures, to give media interviews.

Hours later, after the crowds have dispersed, he will be back in the stand chatting to the BBC as if he had exerted himself only mildly earlier on.

Easy when you have the biggest lung capacity ever measured in Britain? Easy when you are virtually guaranteed a medal every time you row? Not so easy when you've just been trounced in a key race, and even your biggest supporters think you are over the hill.

The lowest point in Pinsent's international career came in the World Championships in Milan in 2003. Pinsent and partner James Cracknell took on Australia's James Tomkins and Drew Ginn in a shootout: the winner was odds-on for gold in Athens. The English finished fourth. The British media were profoundly shaken. The golden boy might just have blown it.

After the interviews, Pinsent, still in his rowing gear, went for a drink in the public bar, climbing through the tables where the Irish were sipping, to a free chair. He shook hands, smiled on those who smiled on him, shrugged at the misfortunes of sport.

A year later in Athens, not long after his greatest triumph, he stood in the mixed area where supporters come to applaud athletes and, arm around his diminutive wife, chatted to a camera crew. An official came to warn off the interviewer. He was at the wrong side of the fence and such contact was forbidden. The camera crew pleaded their case - they were from a BBC local station - but the official was unconvinced. He looked up at Pinsent, who smiled a disarming smile. The interview went on.

An old man in a striped shirt and a boater approached. He was clapping slowly like a performing seal and saying "well done, Matthew". Pinsent kept his reserve until the interviewer turned and recognised Reverend Pinsent. Father and son touched hands and shared a word or two, the small knot of ordinary supporters charmed by the scene of understated joy.

The one Irishman there was also impressed. Here was a man who could "meet triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same".

Don't believe them when they say you shouldn't meet your heroes.

Matthew Pinsent Factfile

1970 - Born in Dorset. Lives in Henley-on-Thames.
1985 - Starts rowing at school.
1987 - Makes international debut in the eights at the Junior World Championships, coming fourth.
1988 - Wins gold at the Junior World Championships with Tim Foster in the coxless pairs.
1990 - Teams up with Steve Redgrave as a late substitute for the injured Simon Berrisford and wins bronze at the World Championships. Wins the Boat Race with Oxford.
1991 - Pinsent crowned a world champion for the first time as his partnership with Redgrave begins to flourish. Wins a second Boat Race.
1992 - Wins first Olympic gold medal after an unbeaten season with victory alongside Redgrave in the men's coxless pairs at Barcelona Games.
1993 - Wins second world title with Redgrave. Awarded MBE.
1994 - Pinsent and Redgrave successfully defend their world title.
1995 - The pair claim a third consecutive title, Pinsent's fourth gold at the World Championships.
1996 - Pinsent and Redgrave retain their Olympic title in 1996.
1997 - Pinsent and Redgrave transfer to a four and win world title alongside Tim Foster and James Cracknell.
1998 - Pinsent wins a sixth World Championship gold as part of Britain men's coxless four with Redgrave, Foster and Cracknell.
1999 - Pinsent makes it a hat-trick of consecutive world titles in men's four with Redgrave, Cracknell and late replacement Ed Coode as Britain win at World Championships again.
2000 - Pinsent wins his third Olympic gold medal, in the men's four at the Sydney Olympics, with Redgrave, Cracknell and Foster. Awarded the CBE in the New Year's Honours.
2001 - Switches to rowing in the men's pairs with Cracknell and the duo, undefeated all season, claim the unique feat of two world titles in the space of two hours in the coxed and coxless pair, surpassing the gold and silver achieved by Redgrave and Andy Holmes in 1987.
2002 - Breaks world record with Cracknell to claim 10th gold medal at the World Championships. Marries Demetra in October.
2003 - For the first time in 11 years, Pinsent finishes a season without a gold medal. Claims bronze at Milan World Cup event, but misses out with Cracknell on a medal at the World Championships, finishing fourth.
2004 - Pinsent and Cracknell are controversially pulled out of the men's pair and included in the men's four to defend their Olympic title in place of Toby Garbett and Rick Dunn. Wins his fourth successive Olympic gold with Cracknell, Steve Williams and Coode in coxless fours.