Kaspar Taimsoo (born 30 April 1987) is an Estonian rower. He is a four time Olympian and four time European champion. He is a member of Viljandi Rowing Club ().

Rowing career

2004–2008

Taimsoo made his first international appearance in the Junior World Championships in 2004 achieving 14th position in the double sculls event. In 2005 he won a bronze medal in the single sculls event at the Junior World Championships. His first appearance at the

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

was in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where he competed in the quadruple sculls event with Allar Raja, Igor Kuzmin and Vladimir Latin finishing on 8th position. The same team achieved 5th place at the 2007 European Rowing Championships held 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 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Taimsoo made his first appearance at the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 competing in the quadruple sculls event with Raja, Kuzmin and Latin. The men were 4th in their preliminary heat and won the repechage. In the semifinals they finished fourth and did not get to Final A. Their final place was 9th as they finished third in Final B. The same team also won the Queen Mother Challenge Cup at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

. In September 2008 Taimsoo won his first European Championships medal, a silver, in the double sculls event with Vladimir Latin.

2009–2012

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Taimsoo won his first World Championships medal, a bronze, competing in the double sculls event with Allar Raja in

. The same duo also won the gold medal at the 2009 European Rowing Championships, held in

Brest, Belarus Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug (river), Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as ...

. Raja and Taimsoo finished 8th at the 2010 World Rowing Championships held at Lake Karapiro, New Zealand. The same crew finished second at the 2010 European Championships. Taimsoo and Raja finished 7th at the 2011 World Rowing Championships. For the 2011 European Championships Taimsoo and Raja formed a new quad scull team with Tõnu Endrekson and Andrei Jämsä. The crew finished second after

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and won the silver medals.Gold medal haul for Greece at the European Championships
. World Rowing (18 September 2011). Retrieved on 7 May 2012 At the

2012 Summer 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 ...

, held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Taimsoo made his second olympic appearance in the quadruple sculls event. This time with Raja, Endrekson and Jämsä. The crew finished second in their preliminary heat and also in the semifinal, thus earning a place in Final A. In the final they finished just outside the medals in 4th place behind crews from

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, respectively. The same quadruple sculls crew won a gold medal at the 2012 European Championships.

2013–2016

The 2013 season started off with a good result as Taimsoo and Raja won a silver medal at the World Cup event held in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The 2013 European Championships, held in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

was a disappointment as the men did not reach Final A and finished in 7th place overall. In the summer of 2013 Taimsoo and Raja formed a new quadruple scull crew with young prospects Sten-Erik Anderson and Kaur Kuslap. The new crew had an immediate success winning bronze medals at the World Cup events held at Eaton and Lucerne. They also finished 5th at the 2013 World Rowing Championships held at Tangeum Lake,

Chungju Chungju () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Uamsan is a mountain located within the outskirts of the city. The city is famous for the annual martial arts festival held in October. Al ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The same team repeated their 5th place at the 2014 World Rowing Championships held in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. In the summer of 2015 Taimsoo and Raja reunited with Tõnu Endrekson and Andrei Jämsä in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. The crew went on to win a bronze medal at the

2015 World Rowing Championships The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at the Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette-le-Lac in France. Description The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by ...

held in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In the spring of 2016 they also won a gold medal at the 2016 European Championships. 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 ...

, held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Taimsoo made his third olympic appearance in the quadruple sculls event, with Raja, Endrekson and Jämsä. The crew won their preliminary heat, thus earning a place in Final A. In the final they finished third winning the bronze medals, behind crews from

and

, respectively.

Achievements

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Medals: 1 Bronze *

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 ...

Medals: 3 Bronze * European Championship Medals: 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze * Junior World Championship Medals: 1 Bronze

Olympic Games

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

– 9th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Igor Kuzmin, Vladimir Latin) *

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 ...

– 4th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Andrei Jämsä) *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

– Bronze , Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Andrei Jämsä)

World Rowing Championships

– 8th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Igor Kuzmin, Vladimir Latin) *

– Bronze , Double sculls (with Allar Raja) *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

– 8th, Double sculls (with Allar Raja) *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

– 7th, Double sculls (with Allar Raja) *

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 ...

– 5th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Sten-Erik Anderson, Kaur Kuslap) *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

– 5th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Sten-Erik Anderson, Kaur Kuslap) *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

– Bronze , Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Andrei Jämsä) *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

– Bronze , Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Kaur Kuslap) *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

– 12th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Kaur Kuslap)

European Rowing Championships

– 5th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Igor Kuzmin, Vladimir Latin) *

– Silver , Double sculls (with Vladimir Latin) *

– Gold , Double sculls (with Allar Raja) *

– Silver , Double sculls (with Allar Raja) *

– Silver , Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Andrei Jämsä) *

– Gold , Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Andrei Jämsä) *

– 7th, Double sculls (with Allar Raja) *

– 6th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Sten-Erik Anderson, Kaur Kuslap) *

– 8th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Sten-Erik Anderson, Tõnu Endrekson) *

– Gold , Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Andrei Jämsä) *

– 7th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Sten-Erik Anderson, Kaur Kuslap) *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

– 9th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Sten-Erik Anderson, Kaur Kuslap) *

– 8th, Quadruple sculls (with Tõnu Endrekson, Sten-Erik Anderson, Jüri-Mikk Udam) *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

– 4th, Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Jüri-Mikk Udam) *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

– Bronze , Quadruple sculls (with Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, Jüri-Mikk Udam)

Junior World Rowing Championships

*2004 – 14th, Double sculls (with Alo Kuslap) *2005 – Bronze , Single sculls

Henley Royal Regatta

*2008 – Queen Mother Challenge Cup

Rowing World Cup

References

External links

Biography and results
at worldrowing.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Taimsoo, Kaspar 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Viljandi Estonian male rowers Olympic rowers for Estonia Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Estonia Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic bronze medalists for Estonia Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class 21st-century Estonian sportsmen