Alan Thompson (canoeist)

Alan Blair Thompson (born June 14, 1959 in Gisborne , New Zealand ) is a retired New Zealand canoeist who won two Olympic gold medals.

Career

A total of four New Zealand athletes took part in the 1980 Olympic Games , while the vast majority of New Zealand athletes boycotted the Games . Alan Thompson started in a two-person kayak with Geoff Walker . Over 500 meters the two were eliminated in the semifinals, on the 1000 meter distance they reached the final and finished eighth.

In the following years, Thompson specialized in the 1000-meter route. At the 1981 World Championships , he finished fifth over this distance in a single kayak . The following year he won two silver medals at the 1982 World Championships : behind Rüdiger Helm from the GDR, he finished second on the 1000-meter course and, together with Paul MacDonald , he finished second behind the Soviet one on the 500-meter course Boat. At the 1983 World Championships , Rüdiger Helm won again in a single kayak over 1000 meters , while Thompson won bronze behind Artūras Vieta from the Soviet Union.

At the 1984 Olympic Games athletes from the Eastern bloc countries except the Romanians did not participate. In the canoe competitions , the New Zealanders in particular benefited from this, winning four out of five gold medals in the men's kayak. Alan Thompson won the 1000 meter course in a single kayak. He received his second gold medal in a four-seater kayak with Grant Bramwell , Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald . In the next few years Thompson could not win more international medals. At the Olympic Games in 1988 , he finished sixth again in a single kayak on the 1000-meter course.

literature

Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle III. Mexico City 1968 - Los Angeles 1984. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-328-00741-5 .

Web links

Alan Thompson in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Footnotes

↑ Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle III. Berlin 2000 p. 1114 Note 534
↑ World Championships over 1000 meters
↑ World Championships over 500 meters

personal data
SURNAME	Thompson, Alan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Thompson, Alan Blair (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	New Zealand canoeist
DATE OF BIRTH	June 14, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH	Gisborne

[1] Volker Kluge: Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle III. Berlin 2000 p. 1114 Note 534

[2] World Championships over 1000 meters

[3] World Championships over 500 meters