Christopher Paul MacDonald (born 8 January 1960) is a New Zealand sprint canoeist who competed from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. He is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most successful international athletes and holds innumerable international speed records in canoeing. Competing in three Summer Olympics, MacDonald won five medals. This included three golds (K-2 500 m:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

; K-4 1000 m: 1984), one silver (K-2 1000 m: 1988), and one bronze (K-1 500 m: 1988). His five Olympic medals is the record for the second most Olympic medals won by a New Zealander, a record he shares with fellow canoeist Ian Ferguson, and equestrian Mark Todd. He also won six medals at the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). The World Cham ...

with three golds (K-1 500 m:

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, K-2 500 m:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, K-2 1000 m: 1987) and three silvers (K-2 500 m: 1982, 1987, K-2 10000 m:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

). In retirement from professional competition, MacDonald has produced many

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

events and programmes including '' Clash of the Codes'' (the ultimate sporting challenge) and annually presents the Dragon Boat Festival. In the

1988 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1988 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, MacDonald was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to canoeing.

References

External links

* *
Biography at New Zealand Olympic Committee
* * * 1960 births Canoeists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Living people New Zealand male canoeists Olympic canoeists of New Zealand Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in canoeing New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics {{NewZealand-Olympic-medalist-stub