Jean van der Westhuyzen (born 9 December 1998) is a South African-born Australian

sprint canoeist Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water. Overview Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. Canoe sprints are som ...

. He was educated at Michaelhouse, Balgowan, KwaZulu Natal. He won a gold medal in the K2 1000 metres event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, competing alongside Thomas Green. Jean also competed in the K1 1000 metres in Tokyo, finishing in 11th place by coming 3rd in the B-final. Van Der Westhuyzen attend Elite, all-boys boarding school, Michaelhouse in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Van der Westhuyzen began as a marathon and sprint paddler. It was only on his immigration to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

from South Africa that he concentrated on sprint racing. In the

2022 Australia Day Honours The 2022 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2022 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

References

External links

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Australian Olympic Committee
Athlete Profile 1998 births Living people Australian male canoeists Olympic canoeists of Australia Canoeists at the 2020 Summer Olympics South African emigrants to Australia Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in canoeing Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Alumni of Michaelhouse ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak {{Australia-canoe-bio-stub