Matthew Brittain

Matthew Brittain (born May 5, 1987 in Johannesburg ) is a South African rower and 2012 Olympic champion in the lightweight foursome without a helmsman .

Athletic career

Brittain took part in the Junior World Championships in 2005 . Brittain won his first international medal in 2007 when he and James Thompson received the silver medal in the lightweight two-man without helmsman at the U23 World Championships . Both sat at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in the South African lightweight four-man without a helmsman, with which they finished 21st. In 2008 Thompson and Brittain won silver again at the U23 World Championships. In 2009 Brittain and John Smith finished fourth in the uncontrolled lightweight two-man at both the U23 World Championships and the World Championships in Poznan .

In 2010 Brittain rowed in the World Cup in the lightweight four without a helmsman in the line-up of Andrew Polasek, Lawrence Ndlovu , Thompson and Brittain. There was a change in line -up for the 2010 World Rowing Championships : With Anthony Paladin, James Thompson, John Smith and Lawrence Ndlovu, the South African four-man 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 .

The 1.84 meter tall Brittain rows for the University of Pretoria Sports Club . His younger brother Lawrence Brittain won the silver medal in the two-man without a helmsman in 2016 .

Honors

In 2017 Brittain was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in silver.

Web links

• Matthew Brittain in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Matthew Brittain 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