Sholto Carnegie knows full well that he will have his Edinburgh grandfather to thank if he delivers on expectations and wins an Olympic medal in Paris.

The Team GB rower brings an eclectic range of influences to the table having been born in Oxford to a French mother and graduated from Yale University.

But when it comes to his sporting DNA, that can be traced back to Scotland, with his grandfather the driving force behind his decision to pursue a life as an athlete.

“When I was younger I was into every sport under the sun and it was my granddad who got me into it,” said Carnegie. “He was a sports fanatic and just absolutely loved it.

“Sadly, he is not with us anymore but his spirit lives on and has been instilled in our family, they have always been very proudly Scottish.”

Carnegie’s parents are both artists and split their time between Oxford and Islay, with Sholto making for the Hebrides to cross-train during breaks in the season.

“It feels like I am coming home, a peaceful space where I can go and really relax,” he added.

His grandfather provided the initial inspiration, but it was the crucible of a sibling rivalry with his sister that sharpened Carnegie into an elite rower.

“I saw my sister having international success and representing GB so I thought I would like to emulate that, and I ran with it,” said the 29-year-old. “She was really, really successful at rowing and was a role model for me and showed what was possible.”

Carnegie is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games. 

Carnegie’s sibling was a prodigious junior but dropped out of the sport after university - the exact opposite of his own arc.

“I was quite a small kid, so I wasn’t that impressive as a junior,” said Carnegie. “I always wanted the privilege of representing my nation.

“It didn’t click for a while until I got a big growth spurt, but I just kept plugging away and plugging away. I think if you keep at it for long enough, good things happen.”

After coming through the vaunted crew programme at Yale, Carnegie joined the GB Rowing Team and made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

He was part of the men’s four that finished fourth after a high-profile steering error, a lodestar moment in a difficult regatta for Team GB.

Carnegie is now part of an all-conquering men’s eight and his Olympic build-up has been a different story second time around.

“I think it’s just the preparedness I’m feeling,” said Carnegie. “I think that experience counts for so much. I’m going into a Games knowing what I’m in for.

“Through Covid, the last Olympics was quite tricky. The way we structured our training camps was slightly different - any Olympics comes with stress and bumps in the road, it’s just how you manage them.

“Being more experienced, you can manage them better and actually it’s the whole lack of Covid rules and regulations and a calmer approach that has helped me.”

Carnegie will be joined in the eight by Rory Gibbs, who was with him in the four in Tokyo, as well as Jacob Dawson, Charles Elwes, James Rudkin and Tom Ford who won bronze in the boat class three years ago. The shell is completed by debutants Morgan Bolding, Tom Digby, and cox Harry Brightmore.

The British eight have won all five available major titles since Tokyo and head to Paris as double world and triple European champions.

“The eight is the biggest boat, it has the most people, the most ideas and it’s the fastest,” said Carnegie. “It’s a big machine and all of these technical things go into it.

“The more we go out and race it, the better we get and the more trust we get in the system.”

With more than £30M a week raised for Good Causes, including vital funding into elite and grassroots sport, National Lottery players support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to live their dreams and make the nation proud, as well as providing more opportunities for people to take part in sport.  To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk