Eskild Balschmidt Ebbesen (born 27 May 1972, in

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

) is a Danish lightweight rower, who as part of the Gold Four has won a total number of five Olympic medals (three gold) and six World Championship gold medals. Ebbesen was the flag bearer of the Danish team at the opening ceremony of 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 ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece. Ebbesen and his crew took an alternative approach to racing and is quoted saying:

Our strategy, for every race, was always to be first, to be number one from the beginning of the race. A fast start was important. It became natural for us to do a high stroke rate. It then escalated. I don't think we have many strokes under 40.

Ebbesen retired from competitive rowing at the age of 40 after the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In the following year, he won the Thomas Keller Medal, the highest honour in rowing.

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* 1972 births Living people Danish male rowers Olympic rowers for Denmark 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 Denmark Olympic bronze medalists for Denmark Sportspeople from Silkeborg Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Denmark Thomas Keller Medal recipients {{Denmark-rowing-bio-stub