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Alan Thompson (canoeist)

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For the Canadian canoeist, see Alan Thomson (canoeist).

Alan Thompson
Personal information
Birth nameAlan Blair Thompson
Born (1959-06-14) 14 June 1959 (age 65)
Gisborne, New Zealand
Height179 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight83 kg (183 lb)[1]
Sport
SportCanoe sprint
Medal record
Men's canoe sprint
Representing  New Zealand
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Los Angeles K-1 1000 m
Gold medal – first place 1984 Los Angeles K-4 1000 m
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1982 Belgrade K-1 1000 m
Silver medal – second place 1982 Belgrade K-2 500 m
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Tampere K-1 1000 m

Alan Blair Thompson (born 14 June 1959) is a sprint canoeist who competed in the early to mid-1980s. He competed at three Olympic Games (1980–1988) and has won two Olympic gold medals for New Zealand.

Thompson was born in 1959 in Gisborne, New Zealand.[1] He received his schooling at Gisborne Boys' High School, for whom he played rugby union; he was selected for the under-18 North Island team.[2]

Thompson attended his first Summer Olympics in 1980 in Moscow and was part of the small New Zealand team of just four athletes that attended that year, as most western athletes stayed away due to the boycott that year.[1]

Thompson won three medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with two silvers (K-1 1000 m and K-2 500 m: both 1982), and a bronze (K-1 1000 m: 1983).

He won both of his gold medals at Los Angeles in 1984, earning them in the K-1 1000 m and K-4 1000 m events.[1] Thompson is one of the few New Zealanders to have won two or more Olympic gold medals.[2] He went to his third Olympics in 1988 in Seoul, Korea, and came sixth in the K-1 1000 m.[1]

After retiring from top-level canoeing Thompson became a coach, selector and manager for New Zealand canoeing teams and eventually became president of the New Zealand Canoeing Federation.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alan Thompson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b Swannell, Rikki (12 July 2016). "New Zealand's Greatest Olympians – Number 25: Alan Thompson". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.


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