Andreas Dittmer (born 16 April 1972 in

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; ) is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital o ...

Bezirk Neubrandenburg The Bezirk Neubrandenburg was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Neubrandenburg. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. A ...

) is a German

sprint canoeist 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 ...

. The dominant

sprint canoe A sprint canoe is a canoe used in International Canoe Federation canoe sprint. It is an open boat propelled by one, two or four paddlers from a kneeling position, using single-bladed paddles. The difficulty of balance can depend on how wide or n ...

ist of his generation in 1000 m races, he has won three Olympic and eight

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

gold medals. Dittmer won his first world championship medal - a bronze - at Paris in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

as a member of Germany's C-4 500 m crew. In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

he won the C-2 1000 m world championship with

Gunar Kirchbach Gunar Kirchbach (born 12 October 1971) is a German sprint canoer who competed in the mid-to-late 1990s. He won a gold medal in the C-2 1000 m event at the 1996 Summer Olympics, together with teammate Andreas Dittmer. Kirchbach als ...

. At the

1996 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, ...

the pair won the gold medal in the same event. Now established as Germany's top canoe sprinter he was selected for the C-1 event and won the C-1 1000 m world title at his first attempt in Dartmouth, Canada in

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 ...

. At Sydney 2000 he won the C-1 1000 m gold as well as the bronze in the 500 m race. He then won three consecutive C-1 1000 m world titles (

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

). In 2003 he also won his first world 500 m title, finally defeating four-time champion

Maxim Opalev Maksim Alexandrovich Opalev (; born 4 April 1979) is a retired Russian sprint canoeist. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he has won a complete set of medals in the C-1 500 m event (gold: 2008, silver: 2000, bronze: 2004). Opalev's potential ...

of Russia to claim his first "double". At the European championships too he won three straight gold medals in his specialist 1000 m event, but had to be content with four consecutive silver medals behind Opalev in the 500 m. Dittmer went to the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

as the overwhelming favourite for the 1000 m gold medal, having been undefeated in major finals for over four years.. However he was surprisingly beaten by Spain's

David Cal David Cal Figueroa (born 10 October 1982) is a Spanish sprint canoeist who has competed since 1999. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he has won five medals with a gold (C-1 1000 m: 2004 Summer Olympics) and four silvers (C-1 500 m: 2004, 2 ...

, who finished just 0.52 second ahead of Dittmer's time of 3:46.721. In the C-1 500 m final Dittmer gained his revenge, edging out Cal by 0.34 seconds, to win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in a time of 1:46.383, with 500 m specialist Opalev pushed back into third place. Dittmer's sister, Anja Dittmer, also competed at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. She is a triathlete. In 2005 he reasserted his authority over 1000 m, winning his fourth European C-1 gold medal in

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

. At the

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, held in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, he again doubled up winning his fourth consecutive C-1 1000 m gold as well as a second C-1 500 m title. His run of success at the European championships finally came to an end in 2006 when he was defeated by Romania's Florin Mironcic in the 1000 m final in Račice, Czech Republic. At the 2006 World Championships in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

, Hungary, Dittmer suffered the misfortune of being disqualified in the C-1 500 m heats. He also lost his 1000 m crown as Mexico's

Everardo Cristóbal José Everardo Cristóbal Quirino (born August 11, 1986) is a Mexican sprint canoeist who has been competing since 2005. His first successful international performance was in 2006, when he won the gold medal in C-1 1000 m and the silver medal i ...

won a shock victory ahead of the second-placed Dittmer. Dittmer earned a silver in the C-1 500 m event at the 2007 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

. He went on to compete at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, but did not medal in any of the C-1 events. As of 2009, Dittmer has a total of 22 world championship medals.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dittmer, Andreas 1972 births Living people People from Neustrelitz Sportspeople from Bezirk Neubrandenburg German male canoeists Canoeists from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Olympic canoeists for Germany Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf 20th-century German sportsmen