Mark Oldershaw
Oldershaw at the 2012 Olympic Heroes Parade in Toronto, September 2012 | ||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | Canadian | |||||||||||||||
Born |
Burlington, Ontario | February 7, 1983|||||||||||||||
Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||
Weight | 94 kg (207 lb) | |||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||
Sport | Canoeing | |||||||||||||||
Event(s) | C-1 1000m, C-1 500m | |||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Mark Oldershaw (born February 7, 1983 in Burlington, Ontario) is a Canadian sprint canoeist. Oldershaw won the bronze medal in the C-1 1000 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He is a third generation Canadian Olympic canoer, fifth family member to compete at the Olympics and the first member of the family to win an Olympic medal. He was a double Junior World Champion in the C-1 500 m and C-1 1,000 m in 2001.
Career
Oldershaw first rose to prominence as a double gold-medalist at the Junior World Championships in 2001, winning both the C-1 500 m and C-1 1,000 m events. However a few years later a tumour was discovered in his right hand which was his prominent paddling hand. This required two surgeries, damaged a nerve and caused him chronic pain.[1] This also caused him to miss qualifying for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.[1] Oldershaw did qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics, there at Beijing he suffered further disappointment, missing the final of the C-1 500 m event.[1]
Despite these disappointments he continued on in his career and his goal of Olympic glory. At the 2011 World Championships in Szeged, Hungary Oldershaw came 5th in the C-1 1,000 m. He then qualified as part of Canada's team for the 2012 Summer Olympics,[2] he won a bronze medal in the C-1 1,000 m event.[3] After his penultimate Olympic moment he stated that "I am so happy. I just can’t even put it into words right now. I’m just so proud to represent Canada. The whole race I was just staring at the nose of my boat, there’s a big maple leaf on it, and it’s just such a good feeling."[1]
Personal
He is a son of Olympian canoeist Scott Oldershaw—who is also his coach at the Burloak Canoe Club[4]—and grandson of Olympian canoeist Bert Oldershaw, making him the third generation and fifth member of his family to compete in the Olympics.[5][6] Oldershaw is also close friends with Olympic teammate Adam van Koeverden and trains together with him at the Burloak Canoe Club.[1][7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Christie Blatchford (August 8, 2012). "Canada's Mark Oldershaw's bronze medal honours family's Olympic legacy in canoe". Montreal Gazette.
- ↑ Dave Feschuk (July 24, 2012). "‘Lopsided’ canoeist Mark Oldershaw hungry for redemption". Toronto Star. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
- ↑ Piercy, Justin (2012-08-08). "Canadian paddlers van Koeverden, Oldershaw win silver, bronze". CBC Sports (Toronto: cbc.ca). Retrieved 2012-08-08.
- ↑ "New Oldershaw at helm of Burloak Canoe Club". Burlington Post. January 26, 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ↑ Sean Fitz-Gerald (June 15, 2012). "Mark Oldershaw continues a three-generation family tradition at Olympics". National Post. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ↑ Brian Cazeneuve (July 26, 2012). "Projected Medal Count". Inside Olympics. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
- ↑ Justin Piercy (August 8, 2012). "Canadian paddlers van Koeverden, Oldershaw win silver, bronze". CBC Sports.