Björn Bach (born 21 June 1976) is a German

canoe sprint Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today ...

er who competed from 1997 to 2006. Competing in two

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, he won two silver medals in the K-4 1000 m (

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

). Born in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

he took up the sport at the age of thirteen. Bach won a dozen medals at the

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

with six golds (K-4 500 m:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

; K-4 1000 m:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, 1998,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

), four silvers (K-4 200 m: 2005, K-4 500 m: 1997, K-4 1000 m: 1999,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

), and two bronzes (K-4 200 m: 1997, K-4 1000 m:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

). His most recent success came at the 2006 European Championships, held in Račice, Czech Republic, where he won a K-4 1000 m bronze medal. At the 2006 ICF Flatwater Racing World Championships however, he finished outside the medals with a fourth in the K-4 1000 m, sixth in the K-4 500 m, and fifth in the K-4 200 m, thus putting to an end Bach's record of having won medals at seven consecutive world championships. At club level he competes for his home-town club,

SC Magdeburg The SC Magdeburg is a professional handball club from Magdeburg, Germany. The team plays in the highest German league, the Handball-Bundesliga and regularly in highest international competitions. They won the EHF Champions League in 1978, 1981, ...

and is trained by Guido Behling.SC Magdeburg
Height: Weight: 92 kg (14 st 7) (203 lb)

References

German Canoeing Union

External links

* * 1976 births Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics German male canoeists Living people Olympic canoeists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Magdeburg Canoeists from Saxony-Anhalt Sportspeople from Bezirk Magdeburg SC Magdeburg sportspeople 20th-century German sportsmen {{Germany-canoe-Olympic-medalist-stub