Eirik Verås Larsen

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Eirik Verås Larsen (born March 26, 1976 in Flekkefjord ) is a former Norwegian canoeist who won two golds, one silver and one bronze at the Olympic Games. He was five times world champion and seven times European champion.

Career

Eirik Verås Larsen won 21 championship titles at national level. In 1997 he finished fifth at the European Championships with the Norwegian four-person kayak . At the 1998 World Championships , he finished sixth in a four-person kayak. He had his international breakthrough at the European Championships in 2000, when he won the two-man kayak title over 1000 meters together with Nils Olav Fjeldheim . At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Larsen and Fjeldheim competed over 500 meters and 1000 meters. They only reached the final on the longer route and finished ninth and last. In 2001 the two successfully defended their European title over 1000 meters. In a single kayak , Larsen took third place behind the German Lutz Liwowski and the Hungarian Ákos Vereckei . At the World Championships in Poznan, the two Norwegians won the title over 1000 meters in front of the boats from Hungary and Germany. In 2002 the two won bronze at the European championships and silver at the world championships , with the Swedes Markus Oscarsson and Henrik Nilsson winning . In a single kayak over 1000 meters, Larsen won the world title in 2002. Larsen and Fjeldheim also won the 2001 and 2002 world marathon championships. In 2002 Eirik Verås Larsen was awarded the Aftenposten gold medal.

After a medalless year 2003, Larsen won the European championship over 1000 meters in single and double in 2004. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Larsen competed in three disciplines. First he won over 1000 meters in a single kayak two seconds ahead of New Zealander Ben Fouhy . An hour later he and Fjeldheim won the bronze medal in the two-man kayak behind the Swedes Oscarsson and Nilsson and the Italian boat. The next day, Larsen competed in a single kayak over 500 meters and finished fourth, a tenth of a second behind third-placed Brit Ian Wynne . Together with the javelin Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen , Larsen received Fearnley's olympiske ærespris in 2004 .

In 2005 Larsen won in the single over 1000 meters at both the European Championships and the World Championships . In 2007 he won the European Championships, at the World Championships he received the bronze medal behind the British Tim Brabants and the Canadian Adam van Koeverden . The following year, Larsen started the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing on both routes in a single kayak. Over 1000 meters he won silver behind Tim Brabants and in front of the Australian Ken Wallace . The next day Wallace won over 500 meters ahead of Adam van Koeverden and Tim Brabants, Eirik Verås Larsen finished fourth, as in 2004. In 2009 Larsen won the two-man kayak together with Jacob Norenberg at the European Championships. In 2010 he did not compete internationally. In 2011 he won silver in the single over 5000 meters at the European Championships. At the World Championships he finished third over 1000 meters behind Adam van Koeverden and the Swede Anders Gustafsson . In the Olympic year he took fourth place over 1000 meters at the European Championships. At the end of his career, Larsen reached the final at the 2012 Olympic Games over 1000 meters . In the final, he won the gold medal with seven tenths of a second ahead of Adam van Koeverden.

Eirik Verås Larsen started canoeing when he was ten. At first he was trained by former world champion Olaf Søyland . In 1995 he moved to Oslo to study at the Norwegian Sport University and trained with Knut Holmann . Larsen holds a Master of Science degree in Biomechanics. He is married to the canoeist Mira Verås Larsen .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Marathon world championships in kayaks at sport-komplett.de
personal data
SURNAME Larsen, Eirik Verås
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian canoeist
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Flekkefjord