Jüri Jaanson
Estonian rower and politician
Jüri Jaanson
Jüri Jaanson in 2011
Nationality Estonian Born (1965-10-14 ) 14 October 1965 (age 59) Pärnu , Estonia Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[ 1] Weight 94 kg (207 lb)[ 1] Sport Rowing Event(s) M1x , M2x , M4x Club Pärnu Sõudeklubi
Jüri Jaanson (born 14 October 1965) is the most successful Estonian rower of all time and the winner of five medals at World Rowing Championships .
Biography
Jaanson was born in Tartu , and had to overcome a particularly challenging childhood, brought on by a severe case of pneumonia at the age of 2. Doctors gave antibiotics which saved him, but which also left him almost completely deaf. He attended a school for the deaf until he obtained a primitive hearing aid at the age of 12, allowing him to attend a regular school. Still, being a loner, he struggled with fitting in. At Tartu University, when a coach introduced him to rowing, he took to it passionately, in fact so passionately that he left the university to focus on rowing.[ 2] He wears hearing aids on a regular basis and was also seen wearing them during his rowing competitions.
He became World Champion in Tasmania 1990 in the single sculls event. In 1995, he won the Diamond Challenge Sculls (the premier singles sculls event) at the Henley Royal Regatta , rowing for the Parnu Rowing Club.[ 3]
In 2004 at age 38, he won an Olympic silver medal in the single sculls event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens .[ 4] In Beijing 2008 he won his second Olympic silver medal, this time in the double sculls event with Tõnu Endrekson [ 5] and became Estonia's oldest Olympic medal winner with the age of 42 years, 10 months and two days.[ 6] He is a member of the SK Pärnu rowing club located in Pärnu . In 2007, Jaanson became the oldest rower ever to win a World Cup event at the age of 41 in Amsterdam.[ 7]
Jaanson is among four athletes to compete in rowing at six Olympics , with Romanian Elisabeta Lipă in 2004, Canadian Lesley Thompson (cox) in 2008, and Australian James Tomkins .
On 18 November 2010, Jaanson announced ending his career. In July 2011 he was awarded with the Thomas Keller Medal , the highest honor in rowing.[ 8]
He is also a member of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu for the Reform Party .
Olympic Games
World Championships
1989 Bled , Yugoslavia – Single sculls
1990 Tasmania , Australia – Single sculls
1991 Vienna , Austria – 12th Single sculls
1995 Tampere , Finland – Single sculls
1997 Aiguebelette , France – 13th Single sculls
1998 Cologne , Germany – 14th Single sculls
1999 St. Catharines , Canada – 7th Single sculls
2001 Luzerne , Switzerland – 7th Single sculls
2003 Milan , Italy – 7th Single sculls
2005 Gifu , Japan – Quadruple sculls (with Andrei Jämsä , Tõnu Endrekson and Leonid Gulov )
2007 Munich , Germany – Double sculls (with Tõnu Endrekson)
European Championships
Rowing World Cup
Overall wins
Single sculls: 1990, 1995
Quadruple sculls: 2005
Double sculls: 2007
Jüri Jaanson Rowing World Cup appearances
#
Date
Venue
Country
Position
Class
Crew
1990
1.
5–7 April 1990
Mission Bay , San Diego
United States
FA 3rd
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
2.
11–13 May 1990
Mannheim
West Germany
FA 1st
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
3.
1–3 June 1990
Rostadion
Norway
FA 1st
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
4.
29 June-1 July 1990
Bosbaan , Amsterdam
Netherlands
FA 3rd
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
5.
13–15 July 1990
Rotsee , Lucerne
Switzerland
FA 1st
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
1991
6.
5–7 April 1991
Mission Bay, San Diego
USA
FA 5th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
7.
8–10 April 1991
Piediluco
Italy
FA 6th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
8.
24–26 May 1991
Wedau , Duisburg
Germany
FA 6th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
9.
31 May-2 June 1991
Hjelmsjoe , Örkelljunga
Sweden
FB 7th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
1992
10.
3–5 April 1992
Mission Bay, San Diego
USA
FB 7th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
11.
1–3 May 1992
Fühlinger See , Cologne
Germany
FB 7th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
12.
29–31 May 1992
Bagsværd , Copenhagen
Denmark
FA 2nd
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
13.
12–14 June 1992
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
FA 5th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
1994
14.
15–17 July 1994
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
FB 7th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
1995
15.
2–4 June 1995
Hazewinkel
Belgium
FA 1st
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
16.
16–18 June 1995
Paris
France
FA 1st
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
17.
30 June-2 July 1995
Henley-on-Thames
Great Britain
FA 1st
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
18.
7–9 July 1995
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
FA 1st
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
1998
19.
29–31 May 1998
Oberschleissheim , Munich
Germany
FB 7th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
1999
20.
9–11 July 1999
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
FB 12th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
2000
21.
1–3 June 2000
Oberschleissheim, Munich
Germany
FA 3rd
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
22.
23–25 June 2000
Vienna , Austria
Austria
FB 8th
Double scull
(b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson
23.
14–16 July 2000
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
SA/B 2
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
2001
24.
13–15 July 2001
Oberschleissheim, Munich
Germany
FA 5th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
2002
25.
1–3 August 2002
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
FB 9th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
2003
26.
29–31 May 2003
Idroscalo , Milan
Italy
R4
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
27.
19–21 June 2003
Oberschleissheim, Munich
Germany
FC 13th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
2004
28.
7–9 May 2004
Lake Malta , Poznań
Poland
FA 1st
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
29.
18–20 June 2004
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
R1
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
2005
30.
26–28 May 2005
Dorney Lake , Dorney
Great Britain
FA 1st
Quad scull
(b) Jüri Jaanson, Leonid Gulov , Tõnu Endrekson , (s) Andrei Jämsä
31.
8–10 July 2005
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
FA 1st
Quad scull
(b) Jüri Jaanson, Leonid Gulov, Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Andrei Jämsä
2007
32.
1–3 June 2007
Danube , Linz /Ottensheim
Austria
FA 5th
Double scull
(b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson
33.
22–24 June 2007
Bosbaan, Amsterdam
Netherlands
FA 1st
Double scull
(b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson
34.
13–15 July 2007
Rotsee, Lucerne
Switzerland
FA 1st
Double scull
(b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson
2008
35.
20–22 June 2008
Lake Malta, Poznań
Poland
FA 3rd
Double scull
(b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson
2009
36.
18–20 June 2009
Oberschleissheim, Munich
Germany
FC 12th
Single scull
Jüri Jaanson
See also
References
External links