Iztok Čop (born 17 June 1972) is a

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

and Olympic gold medalist.

Biography

Čop was born in

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...

, SR Slovenia, and started rowing at the age of 13 in

Bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...

, where Slovenia's best rowing club is located. Originally rowing in the coxless pairs, Čop finished second in the World Championships in 1991, and won Bronze at the

Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in 1992 with Denis Žvegelj (the first Olympic medal for independent

). He then switched to the single scull, winning gold at the 1995 World Championship, but came fourth at the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in 1996. He then changed to the men's double sculls with

Luka Špik Luka Špik (born 9 February 1979 in Kranj, SR Slovenia) is a Slovenian rower and Olympic gold medalist. At the 2005 World Championship, he won gold in the Double Sculls event together with Iztok Čop and silver in the Quadruple Sculls with Iz ...

, and won the 1999 World Championships, and gold at the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

in 2000, which was the first Olympic gold medal for Slovenia since its

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. Špik and Čop were the favourites to win the men's double sculls at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, but finished in the silver medal position. Špik and Čop came into the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

not as favorites; however, with a strong performance in the semifinals they became contenders for a medal. After taking an early lead and holding it until nearly the 1500 m mark, they lost the lead to the Italians and the later winners from New Zealand. They finished in third position, giving Slovenia its second medal of the Olympics after

Urška Žolnir Urška Žolnir (born 9 October 1981) is a Slovenian retired judoka and a politician. She's a member of Judo Club Sankaku Celje. She won the bronze medal in the half-middleweight (–63 kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics and gold me ...

won the gold 2 days earlier. In 2008 Čop became the fourth Slovenian to compete at five Olympics, after shooter Rajmond Debevec (eight Olympics) in 2000, biathlete/cross country skier

Sašo Grajf Aleksandar "Sašo" Grajf (born 25 June 1965 in Maribor, SR Slovenia) is a Slovenian biathlete and cross-country skier who competed at five Olympics from 1984 to 2002. He competed for Yugoslavia in cross-country skiing at the 1984 and 1988 Olymp ...

in 2002, and biathlete

Janez Ožbolt Janez Ožbolt (born 22 August 1970) is a Slovenian Biathlon, biathlete. He competed at five consecutive Winter Olympics, from 1992 Winter Olympics, 1992 to 2006 Winter Olympics, 2006. See also * List of athletes with the most appearances at Oly ...

in 2006. Čop lives in

Radovljica Radovljica (; german: Radmannsdorf) is a town in the Upper Carniola region of northern Slovenia. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Radovljica. Geography The town is located on the southern slope of the Karawanks mountain range, ...

with his wife Petra and

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between groups ...

s Ruby and Amber.

Achievements

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

* 1992:

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

(ESP) – 3rd place (coxless pair with Denis Žvegelj) * 1996:

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

(USA) – 4th place (single scull) * 2000:

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

(AUS) – 1st place (double scull with Luka Špik) * 2004:

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

(GRE) – 2nd place (double scull with Luka Špik) * 2008:

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

(CHI) – 6th place (double scull with Luka Špik) * 2012:

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(GBR) – 3rd place (double scull with Luka Špik) Junior World Championships: * 1989:

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

(HUN) – 1st place (coxless pair) * 1990: Aiguebelette (FRA) – 1st place (coxless pair) World Championships: * 1990: Lake Barrington (AUS) – 7th place (coxless four) * 1991:

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(AUT) – 2nd place (coxless pair) * 1993:

Roudnice Roudnice is a municipality and village in Hradec Králové District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. Etymology The name is derived from the red shades of color (in Czech ''rudá'') of the water in ...

(CZE) – 3rd place (coxless pair) * 1994:

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

(USA) – 3rd place (single scull) * 1995:

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

(FIN) – 1st place (single scull) * 1997: Aiguebelette (FRA) – 4th place (single scull) * 1998:

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

(GER) – 4th place (single scull) * 1999: St. Catharines (CAN) – 1st place (double scull) * 2001:

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

(SUI) – 2nd place (single scull) * 2002:

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

(ESP) – 2nd place (single scull) * 2003:

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

(ITA) – 3rd place (single scull) * 2005:

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

(JPN) – 1st place (double scull), 2nd place (quadruple scull) * 2006:

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

(GBR) – 2nd place (double scull) * 2007:

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(GER) – 1st place (double scull)

External links

IztokCop.com – Official website
( Slovene and English) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cop, Iztok 1972 births Living people Slovenian male rowers Olympic rowers of Slovenia Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Slovenia Olympic silver medalists for Slovenia Olympic bronze medalists for Slovenia Sportspeople from Kranj Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Slovenia Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Thomas Keller Medal recipients World Rowing Championships medalists for Yugoslavia