Luka Špik (born 9 February 1979 in

Kranj Kranj (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fourth-largest city in Slovenia and the largest urban center of the traditional region of Upper Carniola (northwestern Slovenia) and the Slovene Alps. It is located approximately northwest o ...

, SR Slovenia) is a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n rower and Olympic gold medalist. At the 2005 World Championship, he won gold in the Double Sculls event together with Iztok Čop and silver in the Quadruple Sculls with Iztok Čop, Matej Prelog and Davor Mizerit. He also won the 2007 World Championships in M2X. Špik and

Iztok Čop Iztok Čop (born 17 June 1972) is a Slovenian rower and Olympic gold medalist. Biography Čop was born in Kranj, SR Slovenia, and started rowing at the age of 13 in Bled, where Slovenia's best rowing club is located ...

won the 1999 World Championship, and also the gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, which was the first Olympic gold medal for independent Slovenia. Špik and Čop were the favourites to repeat the victory in men's double sculls at 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 ...

, but finished in silver medal position. Coming into 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 ...

they were not the favourites, however with a strong performance in the semi-finals they announced they could be in the running for a medal. In the final of the Men's double sculls after taking an early lead and holding it until nearly the 1500 m mark, they lost the lead to the Italians and the later winners from New Zealand. They finished in the third position, giving Slovenia the second medal of the Olympics after Urška Žolnir won gold 2 days earlier.

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 ...

* 2000:

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 ...

(AUS) – 1st place (double scull with Iztok Cop) * 2004:

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 ...

(GRE) – 2nd place (double scull with Iztok Cop) * 2012:

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 ...

(GBR) – 3rd place (double scull with

) * 2008:

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 ...

(CHN) – 6th place (double scull with Iztok Cop) Junior World Championships * 1998:

Ioannina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

(GRE)-1st place (single scull) * 1997: Hazewinkel (BEL)-1st place (single scull) * 1995:

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 ...

(POL)-2nd place (single scull) * 1994:

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 ...

(GER)-6th place single scull) World Championships: * 2007:

(GER) – 1st place (double scull) * 2006: Eton (GBR) – 2nd place (double scull) * 2005:

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

(JPN) – 1st place (double scull), 2nd place (quadruple scull) * 2003:

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

(ITA)-4th place (double scull with Prelog) * 2002:

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, ...

(ESP)-8th place (4x; Novak, Sracnjek, Bozic) * 2001:

Luzern Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

(CH)-5th place (double scull with MIzerit) * 1999:

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

(CAN)-1st place (double scull with Iztok Cop)

References

External links

luka-spik.com- Official website
( Slovene and English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spik, Luka 1979 births Living people Slovenian male rowers Olympic rowers for Slovenia 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 Slovenia Olympic silver medalists for Slovenia Olympic bronze medalists for Slovenia Sportspeople from Kranj Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Slovenia Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics