Michal Martikánの英語

Michal Martikán (born May 18, 1979 in Liptovský Mikuláš) is a Slovak slalom canoeist. In 1996 he became the first athlete to win an Olympic Games gold medal for Slovakia after the country's independence in 1993. In the following two Olympics he won the silver medal in the same C1 event. He was awarded the silver medal after controversial verdict of referee in Athens 2004. However, he won gold after four years at 2008 Olympics and thus became the most successful paddler ever. He has also won the World Championships four times, in 1997, 2002, 2003, and 2007. He is considered by many the greatest C-1 slalom paddler alive.