Ivan PATZAICHIN

Ivan Patzaichin won 12 canoeing titles at the Olympic Games and World Championships, missed the then record for men set by Gert Fredriksson (SWE) and Rüdiger Helm (GDR) by only one - later György Kolonics (HUN) won 17 titles. Patzaichin Olympic record included seven medals, of which four were gold and three silver. He competed at five Olympic Games, from 1968 through 1984, representing the Dinamo Bucharest club for Romania. His Olympic titles were the C2-1000 in 1968, the C1-1000 in 1972, the C2-1000 in 1980 and the C2-1000 in 1984.

His World Championships medals were: gold C1-1000 in 1973 and 1977, C1-10000 in 1978, C2-500 in 1979 (with Petre Capusta), C2-1000 in 1970 (with Serghei Covaliov), 1981 (with Toma Simionov), and 1983 (with Toma Simionov), and C2-10000 in 1982 (with Toma Simionov), silver C2-1000 in 1971 (with Serghei Covaliov), C1-1000 in 1975, and C2-10000 in 1981 (with Toma Simionov) and 1983 (with Toma Simionov), and bronze C1-500 in 1971, 1973, and 1974, C1-1000 in 1974, 1978, and 1979, C1-10000 in 1974, 1977, and 1979, and C2-1000 in 1982 (with Toma Simionov).