What makes the Thomas Keller Medal special

The medal's roots go back 24 years when it was  named after former president of the World Rowing Federation, FISA, Thomas Keller. The medal is the highest honour to be awarded in rowing and the list of past recipients is a who's who of rowing.

Receiving the 18-carat gold medal last year was Denmark's most successful Olympian of all time and rowing's most successful lightweight, Eskild Ebbesen. Ebbesen collected three gold and two bronze Olympic medals during his career which saw him make two successful comebacks before retiring at the age of 41.

The Czech who made rowing his life, Vaclav Chalupa, was the 2012 Thomas Keller Medal winner. The veteran of six Olympic Games, Chalupa regularly picked up silver medals, spending his career striving for the elusive gold. Known for his modesty, selflessness and enthusiasm for the sport Chalupa was the epitome of Fair Play.

The list of recipients also includes a household name in Canada, Marnie McBean. McBean managed to prove herself at the Olympic level in just about every boat possible and was known for competing – and winning – in more than one event at the Olympic Games. McBean collected no less than 12 World and Olympic medals during her career that took place in the 1990s.

Great Britain's Matthew Pinsent received the award in 2005, the year after he won his fourth Olympic gold medal. Pinsent's career included an 11 year international winning spree in which he never lost a race at the World Rowing Championships or the Olympic Games. Pinsent remains in the limelight in his home country and was part of London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Elisabeta Lipa, the 2008 Thomas Keller Medal winner, has also stayed involved in sport and is an outspoken advocate of rowing in her home country of Romania. Lipa is the most medalled Olympic rower ever having rowed at six Olympic Games and won eight medals, five of them gold. Lipa is also the oldest oarswoman to win Olympic gold after racing at the Athens Olympics at the age of 39.

Lipa famously said, "I exist and I breathe through rowing."

The Thomas Keller Medal will honour another great in our sport in 2014.
Nominations for the 2014 award close on Friday, 21 February.
Click here to submit