Thomas Hall (born February 21, 1982) is an Olympic

sprint canoeist 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 ...

from Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada. Training with the Pointe-Claire Canoe Club, he began his international career in 1999, winning a gold medal in the C-1 1000 m event at the Junior World Championships. By the time of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, he had made a total of 44 top three finishes in international canoeing competitions, including 14 wins. Among these were a gold and a bronze medal at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

. At the Beijing

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 ...

, he won a bronze medal in the Men's C-1 1000 metres event.

Early life and biography

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, he grew up in suburban Pointe-Claire. His mother had competed in the North American

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

championships. His sister is a competitive kayaker as well, while his brother James is a musician in The Sam Roberts (singer-songwriter), Sam Roberts Band. For Thomas

Steve Giles Stephen Giles (born July 4, 1972) is a Canadian sprint canoeist who competed from the early 1990s to the mid 2000s. Competing in four Summer Olympics, he won the bronze in the C-1 1000 m event at Sydney in 2000. Life Giles was born in St. S ...

, Attila Buday Tamas Buday Jr. and Andreas Dittmer are among his role models. He also claims that

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

was a "key influence" for him growing up and he re-read ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' every year for a number of years. As of 2008, he was a physical education student at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

and, as of 2011 he was studying business at

Mount Saint Vincent University Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate Arts, Science, Edu ...

in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, although still living in Montreal.

International competition

After joining the Pointe Claire Canoe Club, his first major international victory was the Junior World Championships in August 1999 in

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 ...

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 ...

, where he placed first in the C-1 1000 m event. Earlier that month he had placed fifth in the C-1 20 km event at the Marathon Junior Cup in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Beginning in 2000 Hall began competing in an increasing amount of international tournaments. In June 2000, at the Bochum International Regatta in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

, Germany, he took second, third and fifth place in the junior C-2 1000 m, C-4 500 m and C-1 1000 m events respectively. In August of that year, he finished second in the junior C-1 1000 m event at the Pan American Sprint Canoe Championships in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

. Beginning with a first-place finish in the C-4 1000 m event at the World Cup in Paris, France, he acquired a total of six medals over the course of 2001, including first in the C-1 JrM 1000 m event at Canadian Sprint Canoe Championships in

Lac-Beauport, Quebec Lac-Beauport () is a town in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada, located on the eponymous Lake Beauport. It has a population of about 8,200 people, and lies about 25 kilometres north from downtown Quebec City. Lac-Beauport is the ho ...

. In August 2002, he had a second-place finish in the C-4 1000 m event at the same tournament in

Minnedosa, Manitoba Minnedosa is a town in the southwestern part of the Canadian province of Manitoba situated 50 kilometres (32 mi) north of Brandon, Manitoba on the Little Saskatchewan River. The town's name means "flowing water" in the Dakota language. The p ...

. That same year, he also took third place in the junior C-1 500 m event at the Pan American Sprint Canoe Championships in Lake Placid, and in the C-2 1000 m event at the Pan American Canoe Championships in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In August 2003, he came in first in the C-1 1000 m event and third in the C-1 500 m event at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

that were held in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. After a third-place finish at the Canadian Olympic Trials in Montreal, he earned seven additional top three finishes in 2004, including wins in the C-4 1000 m event at the World Cup in Račice, Czech Republic and the Junior C-1 500 m event at the Canadian Championships in

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Dartmouth ( ) (Scottish Gaelic, Scottish-Gaelic: Baile nan Loch) is a Urban area, built-up community of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has 101 ...

. In 2005, he placed first in the C-1 500 m event and second in the C-1 1000 m national team selection trials in Montreal. At that year's Canadian Championships, also held in Montreal, he placed second in the C-1 1000 m event. In 2006, he placed second and third in the C-1 500 m and C-1 1000 m events respectively at the National Team Trials in

Lake Lanier Lake Lanier (officially Lake Sidney Lanier) is a reservoir in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and is also fed by the waters of the Chestatee ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. That year, at the ICF World Cup in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

, Germany, he placed first in the C-1 4 × 200 m event and ended the year with a second-place finish in the C-4 1000 m event at the Senior World Championships in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

, Hungary. After five international top three finishes in 2007, he acquired an additional eight top three finishes in 2008 before the

in Beijing. Included among these were first-place finishes in events at the Continental Olympic Qualifier and the National Team Trials in Montreal and the IFC World Cup in Duisburg and

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. The win in Poland solidified his winning of the 2008 overall World Cup Champion in the Canoe Discipline. He is the first Canadian to win this title. He then went on to win a bronze medal in the C-1 1000 m event at the

in the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, finishing half a second ahead of Vadim Menkov of

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

with a time of 3:53.653, but behind Attila Vajda of Hungary and

David Cal David Cal Figueroa (born 10 October 1982) is a Spanish sprint canoeist who has competed since 1999. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he has won five medals with a gold (C-1 1000 m: 2004 Summer Olympics) and four silvers (C-1 500 m: 2004, 2 ...

of Spain. He credited his victory to "a sea change in ..life" beginning in January, as well as a closer bond with his coach, Michael Creamer.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Thomas 1982 births Living people Canadian male canoeists Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics McGill University Faculty of Education alumni Olympic canoeists for Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Anglophone Quebec people Sportspeople from Pointe-Claire Canoeists from Montreal Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games gold medalists in canoeing Pan American Games bronze medalists in canoeing Canoeists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games 21st-century Canadian sportsmen