Luka Špik (born 9 February 1979 in Kranj, SR Slovenia) 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. At the 2005 World Championship, he won gold in the Double Sculls event together with Iztok Čop and silver in the Quadruple Sculls with Iztok Čop, Matej Prelog and Davor Mizerit. He also won the 2007 World Championships in M2X. Špik and

Iztok Čop Iztok Čop (born 17 June 1972) is a Slovenian rower and Olympic gold medalist. Biography Čop was born in Kranj, SR Slovenia, and started rowing at the age of 13 in Bled, where Slovenia's best rowing club is located. ...

won the 1999 World Championship, and also the gold at the

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

, which was the first Olympic gold medal for independent Slovenia. Špik and Čop were the favourites to win the men's double sculls at the 2004 Summer Olympics, but finished in silver medal position. Coming into the 2012 Summer Olympics they were not the favourites, however with a strong performance in the semi-finals they announced they could be in the running for a medal. In the final of the Men's double sculls 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 the third position, giving Slovenia the 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 gold 2 days earlier.

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 vari ...

* 2000: Sydney (AUS) – 1st place (double scull with Iztok Cop) * 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 Iztok Cop) * 2012:

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

(GBR) – 3rd place (double scull with

) * 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 ...

(CHN) – 6th place (double scull with Iztok Cop) Junior World Championships * 1998: Ioannina (GRE)-1st place (single scull) * 1997: Hazewinkel (BEL)-1st place (single scull) * 1995:

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

(POL)-2nd place (single scull) * 1994:

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(GER)-6th place single scull) World Championships: * 2007:

(GER) – 1st place (double scull) * 2006: Eton (GBR) – 2nd place (double scull) * 2005: Gifu (JPN) – 1st place (double scull), 2nd place (quadruple 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)-4th place (double scull with Prelog) * 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)-8th place (4x; Novak, Sracnjek, Bozic) * 2001: Luzern (CH)-5th place (double scull with MIzerit) * 1999: St. Catharines (CAN)-1st place (double scull with Iztok Cop)

References

External links

luka-spik.com- Official website
( Slovene and English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spik, Luka 1979 births Living people Slovenian male rowers Olympic rowers for Slovenia 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 World Rowing Championships medalists for Slovenia Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics