ast summer Matthew Pinsent powered his way to a hair's-breadth victory in the Olympic final of the coxless rowing pairs, providing one of the summer's most exciting sporting moments. It gave him his fourth rowing gold medal in four consecutive Olympic Games - to go alongside his ten World Championship golds.

The victory was especially sweet as it followed a troubled run-up to the Games: victories were hard to find, the crew changed, and then - just seven weeks before the Games - Alan Partridge, a key crew member and friend, had to withdraw after puncturing his lung. On the winners' rostrum in Athens, Pinsent was clearly overcome with joy, relief and not a little exhaustion.

He has another less well-known passion - recycling. 'I've always been a big believer in recycling and it's something that I do all the time without really thinking about it', he says. 'I use the local collection services when I'm at home in Henley, UK, which makes it really easy to recycle all my empty glass bottles and cans every week.' And he even recycles his worn-out rowing gear.

Now Pinsent is backing RecycleNow, a campaign run by the Waste Resources Action Programme, a not-for-profit organization supported by the UK Government. He says, 'We're encouraging more people to recycle more things more regularly.

'It's a real winner, reminding us how easy it is to recycle and showing what amazing things recycled rubbish is being made into. It really grabs my imagination and inspires me to do more.'