Tim Brabants

Tim Brabants

Medal record
Men's canoe sprint
Olympic Games
	2008 Beijing	K-1 1000 m
	2000 Sydney	K-1 1000 m
	2008 Beijing	K-1 500 m
World Championships
	2007 Duisburg	K-1 1000 m
	2006 Szeged	K-1 1000 m
	2007 Duisburg	K-1 500 m
	2010 Poznań	K-1 1000 m
	1998 World Canoe Marathon Championship	K-2 marathon

Tim Brabants MBE (born 23 January 1977 in Chertsey) is a British sprint kayaker who has competed since the late 1990s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he won three medals with one gold (2008: K-1 1000 m) and two bronzes (2000: K-1 1000 m, 2008: K-1 500 m).

Brabants won the K-1 1000 m European championship at Szeged, Hungary in 2002, the first time a British paddler had won the blue riband event.

The 2004 Olympics however were a disappointment. Brabants had won a European silver medal at Poznań earlier in the season and was the fastest qualifier for the Olympic K-1 1000 m final with the world's fastest time of 3:24.412. However in the final itself he finished in fifth place.

He took a year off from competitive kayaking in 2005 to complete his medical studies at the highly regarded University of Nottingham followed by a spell as a doctor in Jersey. But returned to action in 2006, winning the gold medal in Račice in the K-1 1000 m event at the European Championships and the silver medal in the same event at the World Championships in Szeged in August 2006, finishing just 0.06 seconds behind Sweden's Markus Oscarsson.

2007 was an even better year. Brabants competed in the K-1 500 m discipline as well and at the European Championships won Silver for the 1000 m and Gold for the 500 m. At the 2007 World Championships in Duisburg, Brabants won gold in the K-1 1000 m and silver in the K-1 500 m events, thus securing a place for Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

At these games Brabants made his way into the history books by being the first Brit to win a gold medal in either the sprint or slalom kayak discipline. This he achieved by a convincing win in the K-1 1000 m, leading from start to fininh.

Although best-known as a sprinter, Brabants' first success as a senior international had in fact come in the marathon. He won a silver medal at the 1998 World Championships in Cape Town, South Africa.

Brabants is a member of the Nottingham Canoe Club and is a physician by profession. He is 188 cm (6'2) tall and weighs 85 kg (187 lbs).

Brabants was Awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2009 New Years Honours List for his services to kayaking. In 2010, he won a silver in the K-1 1000 m event at the world championships.

Charity Work

Brabants is currently an Athlete Ambassador for Right To Play, the world's leading sport for development charity.

References

• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships - Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936-2007.
• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships - Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936-2007.
• Official website
• Sports-reference.com profile