Damir Martin (born 14 July 1988) is a Croatian rower. He is a three-time Olympic medallist and won silver medals at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and 2016

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, and a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics. Martin is also a two-time world champion (

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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

), a two-time European champion ( 2015, 2016), and a twelve-time World Rowing Cup champion. He won the gold medal at the World U23 Championships in 2009 and 2010. Martin is currently a member of rowing club VK Croatia, and has previously been a member of clubs Zagreb and Trešnjevka.

Early life

Martin was born in the city of Vukovar. He comes from a family of rowers, with his parents and grandfather being rowers, in addition to rowing being a traditional sport in Vukovar. At the age of three, Martin was forced to leave his hometown with his mother Dubravka and older brother Stanislav due to the Siege of Vukovar, while his father Boris stayed and fought. The family were reunited 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 ...

before moving to Austria for six months and eventually settling in Germany for four years. In 1995, the family returned to Zagreb. Martin was a swimmer for four years, before he began rowing at the age of 12. He joined the Croatian national rowing team at the age of 17.

Rowing career

Martin won his first European Championships medal when he placed second in the men's quadruple sculls event with David Šain and brothers Martin and Valent Sinković at the 2010 European Championships. The quartet won their first

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title at the 2010 World Championships in Montemor-o-Velho. They placed third at the 2011 World Championships in Bled. The quartet won the silver medal at the

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in the men's quadruple sculls event. Martin competed in the single sculls event at the 2012 European Championships in

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where he finished second. Together with Šain and the Sinković brothers, Martin won a second World Championship title at the 2013 World Championships in Chungju. After switching to single sculls, Martin won his first European Championship title at the 2015 Championships in

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and retained his title the following year at the 2016 European Championships in

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. Martin won the silver medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in the men's single sculls event, losing to Mahé Drysdale in a photo finish and beating multiple-time world champion Ondřej Synek. In 2017, he placed second at the European Championships in Račice. At the

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, held in 2021 due to the

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, Martin won the bronze medal in the men's single sculls event. He competed at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

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and placed eleventh in the men's single sculls event.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Damir 1988 births Living people Croatian male rowers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Sportspeople from Vukovar Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for Croatia Olympic silver medalists for Croatia in rowing Olympic bronze medalists for Croatia in rowing Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Croatia European Rowing Championships medalists Rowers at the 2024 Summer Olympics