I won Team GB’s first gold medal at London 2012 Olympics… now I’m back in my previous career as an army Major

DOUBLE Olympic champion Major Heather Stanning OBE immediately returned to her career in the British Armed Forces after 2016.

Stanning, 39, made history by claiming Team GB’s first gold medal in the coxless pairs at London 2012.

Instagram / @heathermstanning

Heather Stanning’s 2012 triumph led the way for Team GB’s historic gold medal count[/caption]

Bradley Ormesher - The Times

Major Stanning and Helen Glover won back-to-back gold medals in 2012 and 2016[/caption]

Alongside her rowing partner Helen Glover they became the first British female rowers to win an Olympic crown.

Before that though, Stanning was commissioned from Sandhurst into the Royal Artillery in 2008, where she held the rank of Captain.

The two-time champion started rowing in 2006 and was selected for Team GB’s ‘Start’ Programme.

Four years later in 2010, Stanning was given leave from the army to train for the 2012 Olympics.

In 2011, she and Glover finished second in the World Rowing Championships, 0.1 seconds behind New Zealand.

But in 2012 the pair completed a clean sweep of all three events in the women’s coxless pair of the World Rowing Cup.

They then opened the scoring for Britain’s historic 29 gold medals won at London 2012.

It was the first ever Olympic gold medal for British women’s rowing – a sport Team GB went onto dominate in the following 2016 Rio Games.

PA:Press Association

The Ministry of Defence produced a photo of soliders watching the women’s coxless pairs from Afghanistan[/caption]

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After the race, the BBC played a message to Stanning from her regiment, which was deployed in Afghanistan.

Colonel Roddy Lee said: “We are immensely proud of Captain Stanning. She is a credit to the Royal Regiment of Artillery, to the Army and to the nation.”

A month later, Stanning reported back to her garrison and resumed her army career, where she was posted in the Middle East.

She was promoted to Major in December 2015 and from 2017 resumed work full-time in the army before attending Staff College in September 2017.

Meanwhile, Stanning and Glover continued to compete with Team GB rowing, and retained their Olympic crown in 2016.

Stanning announced her retirement from the sport in November 2016 in order to return to the Royal Artillery, while Glover is targeting her fourth Olympics at Paris 2024.

Stanning is now ready for her next challenge.

She is set to take on the Marathon des Sables, an extraordinary 250km race over six days, that’s been taking place in the southern Moroccan Sahara since 1986.

Stanning’s team is made up of three other British Army personnel and TV personality Judge Robert Rinder.

Stanning’s sensational achievements on the water saw her receive an OBE in 2017Rex