Iztok Čop

Iztok Čop, 2012

Iztok Čop (born June 17, 1972 in Kranj ) is a Slovenian rower . With one Olympic gold and one silver medal and two bronze medals, he is the most successful Olympic participant in Slovenia since independence after Tina Maze .

In 1985, Čop started rowing in Bled . He had his first international success in 1989 and 1990 as junior world champion in two without a helmsman together with Denis Žvegelj . At the 1991 World Championships, the two made their debut in the adult class and immediately became vice world champions behind Steven Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent . At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona Slovenia took part in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time and won bronze twice, the first Olympic medals for Slovenia. The first bronze medal was won by the two-man without a helmsman with Čop and Žvegelj, the second medal followed shortly after in the four-man without a helmsman. In 1993 Čop and Žvegelj received bronze again at the world championship.

Then Čop switched from oar rowing to scull rowing . In his first World Cup participation in the single , Čop was third straight away in 1994. In 1995 he won his first world title in the single in Tampere . At the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 , Čop could not live up to his role as favorite and only finished fourth. In 1997 and 1998 he also only finished fourth at the World Championships. The years 1996 to 1998 are the only years from 1991 to 2007 in which Čop did not win a medal at the season highlight.

In 1999 Čop switched from the single to the double scull , in this boat class he and Luka Špik were almost unbeatable for two years. The two won the world championship title in 1999 and at the 2000 Olympic Games they won the first ever Olympic gold medal for Slovenia. For the next three years, Čop rowed in single again and won a medal every year. At the Olympic Games 2004 Luka Špik and Iztok Čop competed together again, but surprisingly lost against the French Sébastien Vieilledent and Adrien Hardy . In 2005, Špik and Čop competed in two boat classes at the World Championships, and the day after the victory in the double sculls, the two rowed silver in the double sculls . After silver in 2006, the two won gold again at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich.

Čop continued his career in the double scull and from 2011 again in the double scull. Five years after his last world championship medal and twenty years after his first Olympic medal, he won another bronze medal with Luka Špik at the Olympic Games in London.

In 2015, Čop was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal by the World Rowing Association.

In addition to his own rowing career, Iztok Čop is now also the organizer of a regatta. In Ljubljana he organizes a sprint competition, the Čop Challenger . Čop is married and has two daughters.

International success

• 1989: 1st place in two without ( Junior World Championships )
• 1990: 1st place in two without (Junior World Championships)
• 1991: 2nd place in two without (World Championships)
• 1992: 3rd place in a pair without (Olympic Games)
• 1993: 3rd place in a pair without (World Championships)
• 1994: 3rd place in single (world championships)
• 1995: 1st place in single (World Championships)
• 1996: 4th place in the single (Olympic Games)
• 1997: 4th place in single (world championships)
• 1998: 4th place in single (World Championships)
• 1999: 1st place in double sculls (World Championships)
• 2000: 1st place in a double scull (Olympic Games)
• 2001: 2nd place in single (world championships)
• 2002: 2nd place in single (world championships)
• 2003: 3rd place in single (World Championships)
• 2004: 2nd place in double sculls (Olympic Games)
• 2005: 1st place in double sculls (World Championships) and 2nd place in double sculls
• 2006: 2nd place in double sculls (World Championships)
• 2007: 1st place in double sculls (World Championships)
• 2008: 6th place in double sculls (Olympic Games)
• 2011: 5th place in double sculls (World Championships)
• 2012: 3rd place in double sculls (Olympic Games)

Web links

• Iztok Čop at Worldrowing.com ( FISA database )
• Iztok Čop in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Homepage (English and Slovenian)