John Smith (rower)

John Smith (born January 12, 1990 in Germiston ) is a South African rower and 2012 Olympic champion in the lightweight foursome without a helmsman .

Career

John Smith began rowing in 2006. In 2009, together with Matthew Brittain , he finished fourth in the uncontrolled lightweight two-man at both the U23 World Championships and the World Championships in Poznan . In 2010 the two won the U23 World Championships. At the 2010 World Rowing Championships , the South African lightweight four without a helmsman with Anthony Paladin, James Thompson , John Smith and Lawrence Ndlovu finished eleventh. The South African four-man with Thompson, Brittain, Smith and Paladin also took eleventh place at the 2011 World Rowing Championships . In the 2012 World Cup, the South African four-man competed in Lucerne with the line-up of Thompson, Brittain, Smith and Ndlovu and finished second behind the Chinese four, but was ahead of the British and Danes. At the 2012 Olympic Games , the Chinese did not reach the final, the South African four-man with Thompson, Brittain, Smith and Ndlovu won Olympic gold in front of the hosts from Great Britain and the defending Olympic champions from Denmark. This gold medal was the first ever Olympic gold medal for South African rowers and the second medal after bronze in two without a helmsman in 2004 .

In 2013, Smith, Thompson and Ndlovu were three more Olympic champions in the South African four-man row, together with Michael Voerman they finished sixth at the 2013 World Championships . The following year, Smith and Thompson switched to the lightweight double scull and won the World Championships in Amsterdam before the French and Norwegians. At the 2015 World Championships , Smith and Thompson finished fourth behind the French, British and Norwegians. In 2016 the British did not reach the final of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , the French won ahead of the Irish and the Norwegians. Thompson and Smith rowed to fourth place as they did at the 2015 World Championships.

The 1.91 meter tall Smith rows for the University of Pretoria Sports Club .

Honors

In 2017, Smith was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in silver.

Web links

• John Smith in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• John Smith at Worldrowing.com ( FISA database )

Individual evidence

1. ^ National Orders: Wayde van Niekerk bags gold. iol.co.za on April 28, 2017 (English), accessed April 30, 2017