TV presenter and naturalist Steve Backshall said he is ‘so proud’ of wife Helen Glover after she missed out on a third Olympic gold medal by a wafer-thin margin in Paris this week.

The couple live with their three children on the Thames near Marlow, and Backshall was in the stands with their kids when Glover was beaten by the Netherlands team by just 0.18 seconds in the women’s rowing coxless final four on Thursday, August 1.

The 38-year-old previously won pairs gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016 before taking four years out of the game to focus on starting a family and returning to Tokyo in 2020.

It was family that was at the forefront of her mind following the silver medal win, too, telling the press after the race that she “doesn’t plan to carry on” with her sporting career – even though “half the team” doubt she’ll stick to her word.

She said: “My focus has been on crossing the finish line. Right now, I just want to spend time with my family and enjoy being a mum. I’m not really thinking about rowing, and I’ll take my time to reflect on the Olympics.

“My world revolves around my kids, and this is just a really awesome extra I get to do.”

The sentiment was returned tenfold by Backshall on behalf of the pair’s children – with the explorer taking to social media to praise Glover as “mum in a billion”.

He wrote: “For the bear cubs to see mummy waving from the Olympic podium is a moment we’ll never forget. We could not be more proud of you Hels.”