Steve Redgrave CBE took an early-morning press call at an upmarket bank in London to announce he would start training again today, four years to the day since he dragged himself back to the riverbank after his fourth Olympic gold medal in Atlanta.

This time, however, the training is aimed at the London Marathon. Possibly. He's thinking about it. He made it very clear yesterday that he was only thinking about it.

So it was that, surrounded by his Sydney gold-medal crew-mates Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Tim Foster, the 38year-old five-times Olympic champion confirmed that after 25 years in a boat he plans to put his own hand on the tiller. "I want more freedom and time to spend with my family," he said. "This time I won't change my mind."

Redgrave's flirtation with the marathon comes because, as a diabetic iron man approaching middle age, he has no choice but to keep fit. "Exercise helps control the diabetes," he explained. "When you've trained as much as me and you have such a strong heart, there is a danger the heart muscle can turn to fat and become weak."

But, as he confessed, "if there isn't a goal to aim for, I won't go training. Training on my own is very difficult. That's one reason why I wasn't successful in the single scull."

He would like a clean break, recognising that being with rowers will tempt him to pick up an oar again. "I won't row in a Leander eight," he said when asked if he would turn out for next year's Grand Challenge Cup, the only open event that he has not won in a record of 19 wins at Henley Royal Regatta.

Redgrave has been asked what the future holds for him every day since his coxless four's Olympic triumph on September 23rd.

"I told the others I was going to retire in Sydney," he said, "but I didn't announce it because no one would believe me after what I said in Atlanta" - he had invited the general public to shoot him if anyone saw him near a boat again.

He thanked all his rowing partners over the years, praising Pinsent, Cracknell and Foster as outstanding oarsmen. He even had a kind word for the media for their understanding coverage of his career and the ups and downs of the Sydney four.

Warming to his theme, he said he had been lucky to have had three outstanding coaches in Francis Smith, who started him off at Great Marlow School, Mike Spracklen, who guided him to his first two Olympic golds, and Jurgen Grobler, singling out the latter for special praise for sticking with him through thick and thin over 10 years. "Some wouldn't have supported my dark times," Redgrave said.

Grobler, the former East German coach who arrived at Redgrave's club Leander in 1991 and took over the national team soon afterwards, said that coaching Redgrave had been "a partnership with respect and trust, something very special for a coach".

Grobler added: "Steve doesn't like special treatment, which is important. It was a really great 10 years, but nothing goes on forever and I understand his decision. He is a hero in our sport for the new millennium. He is everyone's hero. Everyone can touch him. He's not snobbish."

Pinsent, Cracknell and Foster also sang Redgrave's praises. Pinsent said: "I have rowed with Steve all through the '90s, which shocks me as I say it; it's a massive part of my rowing career. Half the enjoyment of rowing is spending time with guys whose company you enjoy.

"Some things about him I won't miss, though. Among Steve's qualities is being headstrong. There is a lot of ego friction amongst us but it has never got out of hand. There is a certain amount of headbanging, but that's good. We compete against each other and then combine to compete against the world."

As for his own future, Pinsent rated himself as 70-30 in favour of continuing. "The draw of Athens is strong," he said, "but so is the draw of the duvet. My options are to continue as before, to keep fit but take a year out, or to give up."

Cracknell's mind is made up. He has passed his first round of law exams since Sydney and has a seat in a crew for next Saturday's fours Head of the River in London. "It was very special to row with Steve," he said. "Now I'm looking forward to sponsoring him in the marathon."

Redgrave is now doing public-relations work as "a stop-gap" and perhaps the most instructive facet of yesterday's headline-grabbing curtain call was that he made it at Coutts bank on the Strand. "I wanted to do this in front of a Lombard banner," he said, "to thank them for their support."

Perhaps the next chapter of his life really did begin yesterday.