Tim Brabants

Jules Timothy (Tim) Brabants (born 23 January 1977 in Chertsey) is a British flatwater canoeist who won the individual kayak 1000m (k1) bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics and the individual K1 1000m Gold at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

He became K-1 1000m European champion at Szeged, Hungary in 2002, the first time a British paddler had won the blue riband event.

The 2004 Olympics however were a disappointment. Brabants had won a European silver medal at Poznań earlier in the season and was the fastest qualifier for the Olympic K-1 1000m final with the world's fastest time of 3'24.412. However in the final itself he trailed home in fifth place, six seconds off his best time.

He took a year off from competitive canoeing in 2005 to complete his medical studies at the highly regarded University of Nottingham followed by a spell as a doctor in Jersey. But returned to action in 2006, winning the gold medal in Račice in the K1 - 1000m event at the European Championships and the silver medal in the same event at the World Championships in Szeged in August 2006, finishing just 0.06 seconds behind Sweden's Markus Oscarsson.

2007 was an even better year. Brabants competed in the 500m K1 discipline as well and at the European Championships won Silver for the 1000m and Gold for the 500m. At the 2007 World Championships in Duisburg Brabants won the Gold in the 1000m and Silver in the 500m thus securing a place for Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics.

At the Beijing Games, Brabants took gold in the K-1 1000m, and went on to win bronze in the 500m final.

Although best-known as a sprinter, Brabants' first success as a senior international had in fact come in the marathon. He won a silver medal at the 1997 European Championships at Pavia, Italy.

Brabants is a member of the Nottingham Canoe Club and is a physician by profession. He is 188 cm (6'2) tall and weighs 85 kg (187 lbs).

External links

* [http://www.timbrabants.com/ Tim's website]