Benjamin Savšek (born 24 March 1987)[1] is a Slovenian slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2002, specializing in the C1 discipline. With an Olympic gold, 2 individual world titles and 4 individual European titles, he is one of the most successful C1 paddlers of his generation.

Benjamin Savšek
Personal information
NationalitySlovenian
Born (1987-03-24) 24 March 1987 (age 37)
Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
CountrySlovenia
SportCanoe slalom
EventC1
ClubKKK Tacen
Medal record
Men's canoe slalom
Representing  Slovenia
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 0
World Championships 3 3 3
European Championships 7 1 3
U23 European Championships 1 2 1
Total 12 6 7
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo C1
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Pau C1
Gold medal – first place 2022 Augsburg C1 team
Gold medal – first place 2023 London C1
Silver medal – second place 2014 Deep Creek Lake C1
Silver medal – second place 2015 London C1
Silver medal – second place 2018 Rio de Janeiro C1 team
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Prague C1
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Deep Creek Lake C1 team
Bronze medal – third place 2015 London C1 team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Vienna C1 team
Gold medal – first place 2015 Markkleeberg C1
Gold medal – first place 2019 Pau C1
Gold medal – first place 2019 Pau C1 team
Gold medal – first place 2020 Prague C1
Gold medal – first place 2020 Prague C1 team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Liptovský Mikuláš C1
Silver medal – second place 2017 Tacen C1 team
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Augsburg C1
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Kraków C1 team
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Ivrea C1 team
U23 European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Liptovský Mikuláš C1 team
Silver medal – second place 2006 Nottingham C1 team
Silver medal – second place 2010 Markkleeberg C1 team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Solkan C1

Savšek competed at three Olympic Games. His first appearance was at the 2012 Summer Olympics where he finished in 8th place in the C1 event.[2] He finished in 6th place in the same event four years later at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo he won gold in the C1 event after completing a clean run in the final.[3]

Savšek won nine medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships including 5 individual medals. He won gold in the C1 event in 2017 in Pau and then again in 2023 in London. He also has two silvers (2014 and 2015) and a bronze (2013). The other four medals came from the C1 team events as part of the Slovenian team. These include a gold in 2022, a silver in 2018 and two bronzes in 2014 and 2015.[4]

Savšek also won 11 medals at the European Canoe Slalom Championships (7 golds, 1 silver and 3 bronzes). Five of these medals are individual (4 golds and 1 bronze).[4]

Savšek has also had success in the World Cup where he has collected 5 victories and 19 podiums as of 2023. He is yet to win the overall title, however, finishing in the runner-up position of 4 occasions (2009, 2015, 2017 and 2021). He finished in the top ten of the overall standings every year from 2009 to 2023 (with the exception of the 2020 season when there were no World Cup final rankings due to the COVID-19 pandemic).[4]

Savšek was the year-end World No. 1 in C1 event in 2015 and 2022.[5]

Career statistics edit

Major championships results timeline edit

Event 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Olympic Games C1 Not held 8 Not held 6 Not held 1 Not held
World Championships C1 Not held 19 7 17 Not held 3 2 2 Not held 1 7 18 Not held 9 4 1
C1 team Not held 4 5 12 Not held 4 3 3 Not held 5 2 6 Not held 5 1 4
European Championships C1 18 10 6 13 3 27 6 1 12 4 11 1 1 6 1 6[a]
C1 team 6 6 6 8 5 3 1 9 9 2 5 1 1 3 10 8[a]
  1. ^ a b 2023 European Games

World Cup individual podiums edit

      Total
C1 5 5 9 19
Season Date Venue Position Event
2009 3 August 2009 Kananaskis 2nd C11
2010 19 June 2010 Prague 2nd C1
2012 25 August 2012 Prague 1st C1
2014 14 June 2014 Tacen 1st C1
21 June 2014 Prague 3rd C1
2015 20 June 2015 Prague 2nd C1
27 June 2015 Kraków 3rd C1
8 August 2015 La Seu d'Urgell 3rd C1
2016 3 September 2016 Prague 3rd C1
10 September 2016 Tacen 1st C1
2017 10 September 2017 La Seu d'Urgell 1st C1
2021 13 June 2021 Prague 3rd C1
20 Jun 2021 Markkleeberg 3rd C1
12 September 2021 Pau 2nd C1
2022 19 June 2022 Kraków 2nd C1
26 June 2022 Tacen 3rd C1
28 August 2022 Pau 3rd C1
2023 10 June 2023 Prague 1st C1
16 June 2023 Tacen 3rd C1
1 Pan American Championship counting for World Cup points

References edit

  1. ^ "Benjamin Savsek". london2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Benjamin Savšek". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Results (Tokyo)" (PDF). Olympics (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Benjamin SAVSEK (SLO)". CanoeSlalom.net. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  5. ^ "ICF Canoe Slalom World Rankings". 14 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2021.

External links edit