Silken Suzette Laumann, (born November 14, 1964) is a Canadian champion rower.

Life and career

Laumann was born in Toronto Township, Ontario, now

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

. Starting in 1976, Laumann won a number of awards, including a gold medal in quadruple sculls at the U.S. Championships, two gold medals in single sculls at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, a bronze medal at the

1984 Olympics The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an intern ...

in the double sculls with her sister Daniele. At the 1988 Olympics, Laumann finished seventh in the double scull. Laumann graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Laumann won a silver medal in single sculls at the 1990 World Championships, and the gold medal at the following year's World Championships. Arguably the most famous incident in Laumann's life was during her training leading up to the

1992 Summer 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 ...

. One of the odds-on favourites to capture a gold medal, her shell was involved in a collision with the boat of German coxless pair team Colin von Ettinghausen and Peter Hoeltzenbein on May 15, 1992. Despite serious injuries to her leg (in her words, "The injury looked so bad I actually wondered whether I was going to lose my leg, because I could see the bone."), five operations and a total stay in the hospital of approximately three weeks, Laumann was back on the water training by late June. Her efforts paid off with a bronze medal, and she was subsequently named Canadian of the Year by the Canadian Club in recognition and was selected to carry the Canadian Flag in the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. After a one-year absence to allow the injury to heal further, Laumann resumed competing in 1994, and she won a silver at the 1995 World Championships. She also won a gold medal as part of a quad sculls team at the

1995 Pan American Games File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, but was subsequently stripped of the medal after testing positive for

pseudoephedrine Pseudoephedrine (PSE) is a sympathomimetic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes. It may be used as a nasal/sinus decongestant, as a stimulant, or as a wakefulness-promoting agent in higher doses. It was first characteri ...

(which she claimed to have accidentally ingested due to a mix-up in what cold medicine she could safely use). Her final competitive race was at the

1996 Summer 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, ...

, where Silken won a silver medal in single sculls. She formally announced her retirement three years later. Laumann was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal in 1999 for her outstanding international rowing career. In 2004, she was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. She now lives in Victoria, British Columbia and works as a public speaker.

References

External links

*
Biography: 1999 Thomas Keller Medal

Online interview from CBC's Words at Large

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laumann, Silken 1964 births Living people Lou Marsh Trophy winners Rowers from Victoria, British Columbia Rowers from Ontario Sportspeople from Mississauga Canadian female rowers Canadian people of German descent Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration Olympic rowers of Canada Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada University of Western Ontario alumni Olympic medalists in rowing Writers from Mississauga Canadian memoirists Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in rowing Thomas Keller Medal recipients Canadian women memoirists Rowers at the 1987 Pan American Games Rowers at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century Canadian women

Life and career

See also

References

Further reading

External links