Ben Fouhy (born 4 March 1979, in

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of T ...

) is a New Zealand flatwater and marathon canoeist who has been competing since the early 2000s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he won the silver in the K-1 1000 m event at

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 ...

in 2004, as well as finishing fourth in the 2008 Olympics and ninth in the 2012 Olympics in the same event. He is the recipient of the 2003 Halberg Award for NZ Sportsman of the Year and a former world record holder in the K1 1000m event.

Career history

Fouhy began kayaking competitively in 2002, following a background in multi-sport events. He discovered an aptitude for paddling after increasing his kayak training to improve his overall multisport performance. After a handful of domestic wins Fouhy, an unknown on the international field at the time, took a surprise gold medal at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Gainesville, Georgia, USA, after which he won several Sportsperson of the Year titles including the coveted Halberg Award. The following year, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Fouhy achieved New Zealand’s first medal in Kayaking since the 1980s. In 2005 Fouhy was made a Member of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

(MNZM).

Career highlights

* Gold Medal in K1 1000m – 2003 World Cup regatta Poznan, Poland * Gold Medal in K1 1000m & K1 500m – 2005 Australian National Championships, Sydney * Halberg Award – 2003 New Zealand Sportsman of the Year * Bronze Medal in K1 marathon – 2005 World Marathon Championships, Perth * Gold Medal in K1 1000m – 2004 English National Championships, Nottingham * Olympic Silver Medal in K1 1000m – 2004 Athens Olympics * Bronze Medal in K1 1000m – 2006 World Championships, Szeged, Hungary * Gold Medal in K2 1000m – 2004 NZ Sprint National Championships, Auckland * World Champion K1 1000m – 2003 World Championships, Gainesville, Georgia, U.S. * Gold Medal in K1 1000m – 2004 NZ Sprint National Championships, Auckland * Gold Medal, Worlds fastest time in K1 1000m – 2006 World Cup regatta, Poland * Gold Medal in K1 1000m – 2003 NZ Sprint National Championships, Auckland

References

Official website
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External links

* * 1979 births Living people New Zealand male canoeists Olympic canoeists of New Zealand Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in canoeing Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2012 Summer Olympics ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships People from Taumarunui People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School {{NewZealand-canoe-bio-stub