267 articles
Josef Holecek
Josef Holeček (1921–2005), Czech sprint canoeist for Czechoslovakia, two-time Olympic C1 1000 m gold medalist (London 1948, Helsinki 1952) and 1950 world champion; distinct from the 1853–1929 writer and the 1931–2002 PTP laborer of the same name.
Jurgen Eschert
Jürgen Eschert (born 1941, Magdeburg) is a German sprint canoeist, 1964 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist in C1 1000 m, first German single-canoe Olympic champion, later Potsdam canoe club leader.
Karen Hoff
Karen Hoff (29 May 1921 – 29 February 2000), Danish sprint canoeist, first female Olympic canoeing champion, winning the K-1 500 m at London 1948 in 2:31.9; also 1948 world K-2 gold and 1950 world K-1 silver.
Katalin Kovacs
Katalin Kovács (Kovács Katalin), Hungarian sprint kayaker born 1976 in Budapest; three Olympic golds and five silvers (2000-2012) and a record 31 World Championship titles, later heading her namesake Sukoró canoe academy.
Katie Vincent
Katie Vincent (Katharine Leslie Vincent, born 1996) is a Canadian sprint canoeist, Olympic champion in the women's C-1 200m at Paris 2024 with a 44.12 world best, and a three-time Olympic medallist with nine world titles.
Katrin Wagner Augustin
Katrin Wagner-Augustin (born 1977), German sprint canoeist of KC Potsdam; four Olympic golds including K4 500 m at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008; 10 world titles; retired 2015.
Kay Bluhm
Kay Bluhm (born 1968, Brandenburg an der Havel), German canoe sprint kayaker; with Torsten Gutsche won K-2 500 m and 1,000 m gold at Barcelona 1992 and K-2 500 m gold at Atlanta 1996; 5 Olympic medals, 7 world titles.
Ken Wallace
Ken Wallace (Kenneth Maxwell Wallace, born 1983) is an Australian canoe sprint kayaker, Olympic K1 500 m champion and K1 1000 m bronze medallist at Beijing 2008, six-time world champion, later Paddle Australia pathways lead and AOC deputy Chef de Mission.
Knut Holmann
Knut Holmann, born in 1968 in Oslo, is a Norwegian sprint kayaker who won six Olympic medals, including three golds in the K1 1000 meters, and successfully defended his Olympic title from 1996 to 2000.
Krisztina Fazekas Zur
Krisztina Fazekas Zur (Fazekas-Zur Krisztina), born 1980 in Budapest, is a Hungarian sprint kayaker, two-time Olympic K4 500 m champion (2012, 2016), eight-time world champion, wife and athlete of coach Rami Zur, retired 2022.
Kurt Kuschela
Kurt Kuschela (born 1988, Berlin) is a German canoe sprint racer, Olympic gold medalist in C2 1000 m at London 2012 with Peter Kretschmer; 2013 world champion C4 1000 m; retired 2015, now KC Potsdam youth coach.
Kurt Wires
Kurt Wires (Kurt Oskar Wires, born Virtanen, 1919–1992), Finnish sprint kayaker; silver in K1 10,000 m at London 1948, double K2 gold with Yrjö Hietanen at Helsinki 1952; lost right eye in Continuation War.
Larry Cain
Larry Cain (born 1963, Toronto) is a Canadian sprint canoeist who won C-1 500m gold and C-1 1000m silver at Los Angeles 1984, Canada's first Olympic canoe gold since 1936, later a SUP coach.
Laszlo Fabian (olympedia 10052)
László Fábián (1936–2018), Hungarian sprint kayaker, Olympedia athlete 10052; won K-2 10,000 m gold with János Urányi at Melbourne 1956, Hungary's first Olympic kayaking title, plus 4 world and 6 European titles. Distinct from the 1963-born pentathlete of the same name.
Laszlo Foltan
Laszlo Foltan (Foltán László, born 1953, Budapest) is a Hungarian sprint canoeist, 1980 Moscow Olympic champion in C-2 500 m with István Vaskuti, and three-time world champion (1977, 1978, 1981) in the same event.
Leon Rotman
Leon Rotman (born 22 July 1934, Bucharest) is a Romanian sprint canoeist, first Romanian to win two Olympic golds at one Games: C-1 1000 m and 10,000 m at Melbourne 1956, plus C-1 1000 m bronze at Rome 1960.
Leonid Geyshtor
Leonid Geyshtor (Леонид Гейштор), born 1936 in Homel, Soviet Belarusian canoeist; with Sergey Makarenko won C2 1,000 m gold at Rome 1960, the first Olympic gold by a Belarusian, in 4:17.04.
Liam Heath
Liam Heath (Liam Nicholas Heath), British sprint canoeist born 1984 in Guildford, Wey Kayak Club; four Olympic medals (K2 bronze 2012, K1 gold and K2 silver 2016, K1 bronze 2020), Britain's most successful Olympic canoeist, MBE, retired April 2022.
Lisa Carrington
Lisa Carrington, New Zealand canoe sprint kayaker (Dame, born 1989, Tauranga), most successful NZ Olympian with nine Olympic medals including eight golds across London 2012 to Paris 2024, plus 10 world titles.
Liu Hao
Liu Hao (刘浩), born 1993 in Yuxi, Yunnan, Chinese canoe sprint paddler; two Tokyo 2020 silvers (C1 and C2 1000m) and Paris 2024 C2 500m gold with Ji Bowen; distinct from other athletes named Liu Hao.
Ludwig Landen
Ludwig Karl Landen (1908–1985), German flatwater canoeist of Verein für Kajaksport Köln; won K-2 10,000 m gold with Paul Wevers at Berlin 1936 in 41:45.0 and the 1936 European K-4 1,000 m title; a non-swimmer.
Lyubomir Lyubenov
Lyubomir Lyubenov (Любомир Любенов, born 1957, Plovdiv) is a Bulgarian sprint canoeist, 1980 Moscow Olympic gold medalist in C-1 1000 m and silver medalist in C-1 500 m; distinct from the 1980-born footballer of the same name.
Lyudmila Khvedosyuk Pinayeva
Lyudmila Khvedosyuk Pinayeva (Людмила Хведосюк-Пинаева), Soviet kayak sprint canoeist born 1936; three Olympic golds (K-1 500 m 1964, 1968; K-2 500 m 1972), one bronze, seven world and six European titles.
Maialen Chourraut
Maialen Chourraut Yurramendi, Spanish canoe slalom K1 paddler born 1983 in Lasarte-Oria. Olympic bronze 2012, gold 2016 (Spain's first slalom title), silver 2020; still racing at 43.
Maike Nollen
Maike Nollen, born 1977 in East Berlin, is a German sprint canoer who won K4 500 m gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics with Fischer, Wagner, and Leonhardt, plus world and European medals for KC Charlottenburg.
Maksim Opalev
Maksim Opalev (Максим Опалев), Russian sprint canoeist born 1979 in Volgograd; Olympic C1 500 m champion 2008 after silver 2000 and bronze 2004; 11-time flatwater world champion and 2002 world best time holder.
Manuela Mucke
Manuela Mucke (born 1975, Lutherstadt Wittenberg) is a German flatwater canoeist of KC Potsdam who won Olympic K4 500 m gold at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, plus 4-8-1 world and 2-2-2 European medals, and retired in 2004.
Marcus Groß
Marcus Groß (born 1989, Görlitz) is a German sprint canoeist, double Olympic gold medalist at Rio 2016 in K2 and K4 1000 m, three-time K2 1000 m world champion, and a federal police officer.
Maria Stefan Mihoreanu
Maria Ștefan-Mihoreanu (born 1954, Jurilovca, Romania), also known as Maria Cosma, is a Romanian canoe sprinter who won K4 500 m gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and took nine world championship medals, one silver and eight bronze, from 1973 to 1983.
Mario von Appen
Mario von Appen (born 1965, Hamburg) is a German flatwater canoeist, Olympic gold medalist in the men's K4 1000 m at Barcelona 1992 (2:54.18, beating Hungary by 0.64 s), with six K4 World Championship medals; later an IT manager in Australia.