Jüri Jaanson (born 14 October 1965) is the most successful Estonian rower of all time and the winner of five medals at World Rowing Championships.

Biography Jaanson was born in Tartu, and had to overcome a particularly challenging childhood, brought on by a severe case of pneumonia at the age of 2. Doctors gave antibiotics which saved him, but which also left him almost completely deaf. He attended a school for the deaf until he obtained a primitive hearing aid at the age of 12, allowing him to attend a regular school. Still, being a loner, he struggled with fitting in. At Tartu University, when a coach introduced him to rowing, he took to it so passionately that he left university to focus on rowing. He wears hearing aids on a regular basis and was also seen wearing them during his rowing competitions.

He became World Champion in Tasmania 1990 in the single sculls event. In 1995, he won the Diamond Challenge Sculls (the premier singles sculls event) at the Henley Royal Regatta, rowing for the Parnu Rowing Club.

In 2004 at age 38, he won an Olympic silver medal in the single sculls event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens."2004 Summer Olympics – Athens, Greece – Rowing" In Beijing 2008 he won his second Olympic silver medal, this time in the double sculls event with Tõnu Endrekson and became Estonia's oldest Olympic medal winner with the age of 42 years, 10 months and two days. He is a member of the SK Pärnu rowing club located in Pärnu. In 2007, Jaanson became the oldest rower ever to win a World Cup event at the age of 41 in Amsterdam.

Jaanson is among four athletes to compete in rowing at six Olympics, with Romanian Elisabeta Lipă in 2004, Canadian Lesley Thompson (cox) in 2008, and Australian James Tomkins.

On 18 November 2010, Jaanson announced his retirement. In July 2011 he was awarded with the Thomas Keller Medal, the highest honor in rowing.

He is also a member of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu for the Reform Party.

Olympic Games 1988 Seoul – 8th Single sculls 1992 Barcelona – 5th Single sculls 1996 Atlanta – 18th Single sculls 2000 Sydney – 6th Single sculls 2004 Athens – Single sculls 2008 Beijing – Double sculls (with Tõnu Endrekson)

World Championships 1989 Bled, Yugoslavia – Single sculls 1990 Tasmania, Australia – Single sculls 1991 Vienna, Austria – 12th Single sculls 1995 Tampere, Finland – Single sculls 1997 Aiguebelette, France – 13th Single sculls 1998 Cologne, Germany – 14th Single sculls 1999 St. Catharines, Canada – 7th Single sculls 2001 Luzerne, Switzerland – 7th Single sculls 2003 Milan, Italy – 7th Single sculls 2005 Gifu, Japan – Quadruple sculls (with Andrei Jämsä, Tõnu Endrekson and Leonid Gulov) 2007 Munich, Germany – Double sculls (with Tõnu Endrekson)

European Championships 2008 Marathon, Greece – Quadruple Sculls (with Tõnu Endrekson, Andrei Jämsä and Allar Raja)

Rowing World Cup

Overall wins Single sculls: 1990, 1995 Quadruple sculls: 2005 Double sculls: 2007

Jüri Jaanson Rowing World Cup appearances # Date Venue Country Position Class Crew 1990 1. 5–7 April 1990 Mission Bay, San Diego United States FA 3rd Single scull Jüri Jaanson 2. 11–13 May 1990 Mannheim West Germany FA 1st Single scull Jüri Jaanson 3. 1–3 June 1990 Rostadion Norway FA 1st Single scull Jüri Jaanson 4. 29 June-1 July 1990 Bosbaan, Amsterdam Netherlands FA 3rd Single scull Jüri Jaanson 5. 13–15 July 1990 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland FA 1st Single scull Jüri Jaanson 1991 6. 5–7 April 1991 Mission Bay, San Diego USA FA 5th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 7. 8–10 April 1991 Piediluco Italy FA 6th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 8. 24–26 May 1991 Wedau, Duisburg Germany FA 6th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 9. 31 May-2 June 1991 Hjelmsjoe, Örkelljunga Sweden FB 7th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 1992 10. 3–5 April 1992 Mission Bay, San Diego USA FB 7th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 11. 1–3 May 1992 Fühlinger See, Cologne Germany FB 7th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 12. 29–31 May 1992 Bagsværd, Copenhagen Denmark FA 2nd Single scull Jüri Jaanson 13. 12–14 June 1992 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland FA 5th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 1994 14. 15–17 July 1994 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland FB 7th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 1995 15. 2–4 June 1995 Hazewinkel Belgium FA 1st Single scull Jüri Jaanson 16. 16–18 June 1995 Paris France FA 1st Single scull Jüri Jaanson 17. 30 June-2 July 1995 Henley-on-Thames Great Britain FA 1st Single scull Jüri Jaanson 18. 7–9 July 1995 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland FA 1st Single scull Jüri Jaanson 1998 19. 29–31 May 1998 Oberschleissheim, Munich Germany FB 7th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 1999 20. 9–11 July 1999 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland FB 12th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 2000 21. 1–3 June 2000 Oberschleissheim, Munich Germany FA 3rd Single scull Jüri Jaanson 22. 23–25 June 2000 Vienna, Austria Austria FB 8th Double scull (b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson 23. 14–16 July 2000 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland SA/B 2 Single scull Jüri Jaanson 2001 24. 13–15 July 2001 Oberschleissheim, Munich Germany FA 5th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 2002 25. 1–3 August 2002 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland FB 9th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 2003 26. 29–31 May 2003 Idroscalo, Milan Italy R4 Single scull Jüri Jaanson 27. 19–21 June 2003 Oberschleissheim, Munich Germany FC 13th Single scull Jüri Jaanson 2004 28. 7–9 May 2004 Lake Malta, Poznań Poland FA 1st Single scull Jüri Jaanson 29. 18–20 June 2004 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland R1 Single scull Jüri Jaanson 2005 30. 26–28 May 2005 Dorney Lake, Dorney Great Britain FA 1st Quad scull (b) Jüri Jaanson, Leonid Gulov, Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Andrei Jämsä 31. 8–10 July 2005 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland FA 1st Quad scull (b) Jüri Jaanson, Leonid Gulov, Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Andrei Jämsä 2007 32. 1–3 June 2007 Danube, Linz/Ottensheim Austria FA 5th Double scull (b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson 33. 22–24 June 2007 Bosbaan, Amsterdam Netherlands FA 1st Double scull (b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson 34. 13–15 July 2007 Rotsee, Lucerne Switzerland FA 1st Double scull (b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson 2008 35. 20–22 June 2008 Lake Malta, Poznań Poland FA 3rd Double scull (b) Tõnu Endrekson, (s) Jüri Jaanson 2009 36. 18–20 June 2009 Oberschleissheim, Munich Germany FC 12th Single scull Jüri Jaanson

See also List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games

References

External links

World Rowing Magazine August 2007 World Rowing Magazine Athlete of the Month March 2010