- David Florence
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David Florence Personal information Full name David Florence Nationality British Born 8 August 1982
Aberdeen, ScotlandHeight 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] Weight 78 kilograms (170 lb)[1] Sport Sport Swimming Club Forth Medal recordCompetitor for 
Great BritainMen's canoe slalom Olympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing C-1 World Championships Silver 2009 La Seu d'Urgell C-2 team Bronze 2006 Prague C-1 team Bronze 2010 Tacen C-2 Bronze 2011 Bratislava C-2 team David Florence (born 8 August 1982) is a British slalom canoeist.[1] He won a silver medal in the men's slalom C-1 at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[2]
Contents
Early life
Having been born in Aberdeen, Florence lived in Edinburgh between the ages of 7 and 18 on the same street as future world and Olympic cycling champion Chris Hoy.[3] He attended Roseburn Primary School and Stewarts Melville College secondary school.[4] He began canoeing at the age of 14, on the Water of Leith, and was eventually invited to join the Forth Canoe Club, where most of his training was done on the Union Canal.[3] He went to the University of Nottingham and studied mathematical physics, but says his main reason for choosing to move to Nottingham was because it is the home of the National Watersports Centre.[3] His father, George, is a former Scottish canoeing champion and his brother, Fraser also canoes for Scotland. His Uncle Angus Florence also canoed for Scotland.[5]
Career
Florence finished 4th in the 2005 European Championships and 15th in the World Championships the same year. He also won a bronze medal in the World Cup event in Seu. In 2006 he improved to a sixth place finish in the World Championships, won a bronze in the C-1 team, and took the gold medal at the World Cup in Augsburg. 2007 was his most successful year to date with a 5th place in the World Championships and two World Cup medals, bronzes in Prague and Augsburg.[1] He also won a silver in the C-2 team event at the 2009 world championships in La Seu d'Urgell. At the 2010 world championships, Florence won a bronze in the C-2 event.
2008 Olympics
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, in Beijing, Florence competed in the men's slalom C-1, solo whitewater canoeing event. He finished second overall, winning the silver medal behind Slovakian world number one Michal Martikán.[2] He completed his preliminary runs of the course at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in 89.47 and 82.16 seconds, to lie 3rd overall, with a total time of 171.63 seconds, heading into the semifinal. His semifinal time of, 90.46 seconds, qualifying him for the final in 4th place out of the ten advancing competitors. His final run of 88.15 seconds gave him a total time 178.61 seconds and meant he led with only Martikán left to compete, however the Slovakian went almost 2 seconds faster to push Florence into the silver medal position.[2] After the event Florence said he had been inspired by the sight of Rebecca Adlington winning her 400 metres freestyle gold medal the day before.[6]
Astronaut application
Before the 2008 Olympic Games Florence had applied to become an astronaut in the European Space Agency's astronaut training programme in response to an advert he had seen, and was so serious about it that he began learning Russian, a mandatory requirement for the position. However he was not among the four people selected from the 8,400 applicants and received a rejection letter a short time before the start of the Olympics.[6][7] After winning his Olympic medal he said of the application; "It wasn't a whim… It was an opportunity that came along to apply for something incredible. I tried but didn't get in."[8]
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d "Team GB > Beijing 2008 > Athlete profile > David Florence". British Olympic Association. http://www.olympics.org.uk/BEIJING2008/AthleteProfile.aspx?id=6689. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ a b c "GB's Florence claims canoe silver". BBC Sport. 2008-08-12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/canoeing/7555946.stm. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
- ^ a b c Wilson, Mike (2008-09-14). "Time and place: David Florence". London: The Times. http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article4747367.ece. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ "David Florence - Olympic Canoe Slalom Athlete". davidflorence.com - Official website of Olympic Canoe Slalom Athlete David Florence. 2008-09-14. http://www.davidflorence.co.uk/index.php?page=about§ion_number=3. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ "Scots Olympic medal winner David Florence missed out on astronaut dream". Daily Record. 2008-08-13. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/08/13/scots-olympic-medal-winner-david-florence-missed-out-on-astronaut-dream-86908-20695077/. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ a b Hart, Simon (2008-08-12). "Beijing: David Florence rockets to silver". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2547663/Beijing-Canoeings-David-Florence-rockets-to-silver-success---Olympics.html. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ Bull, Andy (2008-08-13). "Beijing Olympics: Would-be astronaut Florence finds silver lining after missing out on a life above the clouds". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/13/davidflorence.britisholympicmedals. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ Broadbent, Rick (2008-08-13). "David Florence takes Olympic silver in canoeing". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4513171.ece. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- 2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships 11 September 2010 C-2 men's final results - accessed 11 September 2010.
- 12 September 2009 final results for the men's C-2 team slalom event for the 2009 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. - accessed 12 September 2009.
- British Olympic Association biography for David Florence
- Florence's results on the International Canoe Federation's website
- ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships - Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936-2007.
- Sports-reference.com profile
Categories:- 1982 births
- Alumni of the University of Nottingham
- British canoeists
- Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Living people
- Olympic canoeists of Great Britain
- Olympic silver medalists for Great Britain
- Sportspeople from Aberdeen
- Olympic medalists in canoeing
- People educated at Stewart's Melville College
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