By Frank Malley, PA Chief Sports Writer, Sydney

It was more, much more, than pure coincidence.

Twenty four hours after Steven Redgrave captured the hearts and minds of a nation with his historic fifth Olympic gold medal the British rowing team was wilting under the weight of heavy metal.

First the men's eight struck gold for the first time since 1912, the year the Titanic went down.

Then the women's quadruple sculls won silver, the first time British women have won an Olympic medal.

It was as if Redgrave, and his coxless fours crew comprising Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell, had pushed open the gates to a bright new future - one which has the royal seal of approval.

Redgrave tonight received a royal message of congratulation, signed 'Elizabeth R', to mark his historic personal achievement, though he admitted he found talk of a possible imminent knighthood "very embarrassing".

Indeed, the man with five Olympic golds insisted he was just an "average guy".

"I looked up to heroes like Mark Spitz and some of the greats when I was a kid growing up," said 38-year-old Redgrave, who together with Pinsent roared on the British team.

"But you never see yourself in that light. I don't see myself up there. I see myself as just an average guy in the street.

"I just carry on what I'm doing and if people get inspiration from that that's a nice feeling. I don't think any of us realised the respect people had for us until we came here.

"At the opening ceremony I was amazed at the impact we had. Lots of the athletes had cameras and they were asking the four of us to get together for pictures."

The coxless four's Olympic appeal was confirmed in the advanced television ratings for their heroic row in the early hours of Saturday morning which drew an audience in Britain of more than seven million viewers.

And despite reports in a national newspaper, which paid for his inside story, that he had quit boats forever his fans may still see him row again.

At least that's how it seemed tonight as pertinent questions were put succinctly and directly as Britain's burgeoning rowing medallists gathered at Olympic Park.

Have you retired? "No". Have you raced your last race? "No". Have you raced your last international race? No. Have you raced at your last Olympics? "Probably".

It seems the decision to end 20 years of the most precious and productive part of his life is tinged with contradiction and ambiguity.

"I have no inkling to carry on rowing at all," he said in one breath before continuing: "I've felt for a very long time that this race was not going to be my last race, but probably my last Olympic race.

"I've been satisfied with that in my own mind. It was two or three days after Atlanta I was sitting around a pool in Orlando thinking I'd like to be in Sydney because it was going to be a tremendous Olympic Games, I wanted to be part of that. I didn't want to watch it on TV 'cos I felt I could do it.

"Maybe I feel that in four years I can't do it. More to the point maybe in four years I won't be able to do it or want to put the commitment in to try to do it.

"As we stand at the moment I feel very satisfied at what I've done and have no intentions of going on any further than maybe the super sprints in a couple of week's time.

"I made that decision probably a couple of years ago, if not four years ago.

"Short term I've got planning permission to put an extension on to my house which almost means knocking it down and starting again which I'm really looking forward to."

Being the son of a builder you could say he is going back to his roots.

If he does not race again his one regret, however, is that his fame has detracted from the achievements of his team-mates, especially triple-gold medal winner Matthew Pinsent.

"If I'd never come across Matthew and had the opportunity of rowing with him then I'd never have achieved what I have, it's as simple as that," said Redgrave.

"I remember going for my third Olympic gold medal and how special it felt and I feel Matthew has missed out on the attention of achieving three gold medals. All the time it's me who is pushed forward and I find that very difficult to cope with in a very tight, close unit."

Rowing as a sport, though, can ride the crest created by the three medals won at Penrith Lakes.

"The first time for British women to win an Olympic medal is very, very special. It's tremendous and will give so much strength to women's sport.

"It's a very big step for women's rowing and it can go from strength to strength from here, though it will be very difficult to better this weekend.

"The number of times I've watched British sport with anticipation and been disappointed at rugby or cricket or football.

"Also with the amount of pommy-bashing that goes on here for us to come over here and beat them in their backyard is fantastic."

Lottery funding has, of course, received much of the praise for the improvement of Britain's athletes in general - and perhaps no-one epitomises the value of the scheme better than Cracknell.

"Before Atlanta I was signing on the dole and working cash in hand," he explained. "It was pretty hard filling in all those forms and pretending you really did want to be an accountant.

"To keep that going for a year was pretty tough. Now it means I no longer have to go round supermarkets wondering what foods I can afford. I can eat the right foods for my training and can afford to rent a nicer place than a student house. Life becomes less stressed.

"We also have more full-time coaches than before and more training camps, that is no coincidence."

Now Britain also has 13 gold medallists out of 19 competitors who have made rowing finals here - not a bad return for a £1 flutter.