Louis "Lou" Lukanovich (born December 5, 1930) is a Croatian-born,

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

sprint canoer 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 ...

who competed in the early 1960s. He and partner Alan McCleery were eliminated in the repechage round of the K-2 1000 m event at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. After his Olympic career, the

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 ...

-born Lukanovich went on to a lifetime of involvement in the sport of canoe-kayak. He was a coach for the Canadian team at the Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich and 1976 in Montreal. He is currently the president and chief designer at Simon River Sports, a Quebec-based manufacturer and supplier of canoe-kayak and other sporting equipment. Lukanovich co-founded the Viking Canoe Club in 2001. In 2014 Lukanovich was awarded the Edgar R. Gilbert award by CanoeKayak Canada for his sustained contribution to coaching in the sport.

References

1930 births Living people Sportspeople from Zagreb Croatian emigrants to Canada Yugoslav emigrants to Canada Canadian male canoeists Canoeists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists for Canada 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{Canada-canoe-bio-stub