Pertti Johannes Karppinen (born 17 February 1953) is a retired Finnish rower noted for his three consecutive Olympic gold medals in single sculls in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Biography

Karppinen won the world titles in 1979 and 1985 and once held the world record in indoor rowing. His style was to row a steady race and finish with a devastating sprint. In the early portions of the race, he would often trail his rivals by several boat length, only to catch them at the race finish. Karppinen and great German sculler Peter-Michael Kolbe had one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport. Although Kolbe has more Olympic and World Championship medals than any other single sculler in history, he never won an Olympic gold medal. Twice, in 1976 and 1984, Kolbe had the lead the entire race, only to be passed in the last few meters of the race by Karppinen. Kolbe and Karppinen did not face each other in the 1980 Games because West Germany chose to boycott the games to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. Karppinen and Kolbe faced each other one last time at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. Karppinen missed making the finals, but won the consolation race for seventh place. Kolbe again won a silver medal being beaten by prodigy Thomas Lange. Karppinen would go on to compete in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

finishing in tenth place. Karppinen and

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 ...

's Vyacheslav Ivanov are the only men to win gold medals in the single scull at three straight Olympics. Besides single sculls, Karppinen also rowed doubles with his younger brother Reima and won a silver medal at the

1981 World Rowing Championships The 1981 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 1981 at Oberschleißheim Regatta Course in Oberschleißheim near Munich, West Germany. Medal summary Men's events Women's events ...

. Currently Karppinen works as a national rowing coach, and also trains his son Juho, and daughter Eeva, who both compete in rowing at the international level.

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External links

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karppinen, Pertti 1953 births Living people Finnish male rowers Rowers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for Finland Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic gold medalists for Finland World Rowing Championships medalists for Finland Sportspeople from Southwest Finland 20th-century Finnish sportsmen

Biography

See also

References

External links