Michal Martikán

Michal Martikán

Martikán in 2005 in Čunovo
Personal information
Nationality	Slovak
Born	18 May 1979 Liptovský Mikuláš, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)
Website	http://www.michalmartikan.sk
Sport
Country	Slovakia
Sport	Canoe slalom
Event(s)	C-1
Club	Dukla Liptovský Mikuláš
Medal record Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta C-1 2008 Beijing C-1 2000 Sydney C-1 2004 Athens C-1 2012 London C-1 World Championships 1997 Três Coroas C-1 1997 Três Coroas C-1 team 2002 Bourg St.-Maurice C-1 2003 Augsburg C-1 2003 Augsburg C-1 team 2007 Foz do Iguaçu C-1 2009 La Seu d'Urgell C-1 team 2010 Tacen C-1 team 2011 Bratislava C-1 team 2013 Prague C-1 team 2014 Deep Creek Lake C-1 team 2015 London C-1 team 2006 Prague C-1 2009 La Seu d'Urgell C-1 2010 Tacen C-1 1995 Nottingham C-1 1995 Nottingham C-1 team 1999 La Seu d'Urgell C-1 2005 Penrith C-1 European Championships 1998 Roudnice nad Labem C-1 team 2000 Mezzana C-1 team 2002 Bratislava C-1 team 2005 Tacen C-1 team 2007 Liptovský Mikuláš C-1 2007 Liptovský Mikuláš C-1 team 2008 Kraków C-1 2008 Kraków C-1 team 2009 Nottingham C-1 2010 Bratislava C-1 2010 Bratislava C-1 team 2012 Augsburg C-1 team 2015 Markkleeberg C-1 team 2016 Liptovský Mikuláš C-1 team 1998 Roudnice nad Labem C-1 2006 L'Argentière-la-Bessée C-1 2006 L'Argentière-la-Bessée C-1 team 2014 Vienna C-1 2016 Liptovský Mikuláš C-1 2014 Vienna C-1 team

Michal Martikán (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmixal ˈmartikaːn]; born 18 May 1979) is a Slovak slalom canoeist who has been competing since the mid-1990s. In 1996 he became the first athlete to win an Olympic Games gold medal for Slovakia since the country gained independence in 1993. In total he won 5 Olympic medals (2 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze), which is the most among all slalom paddlers. He has also won the World Championship title in the C-1 individual category four times. He is considered by many the greatest C-1 slalom paddler alive.

Career

At the age of 16, Michal Martikán became the youngest winner of a World Cup slalom canoeing event.^[1] Three months later, at age 17, Martikán was in sixth place after the first run of the canoe slalom singles event at the 1996 Olympics. With nothing to lose, he went all out on the second run and just bettered the score of defending champion Lukáš Pollert of the Czech Republic. Martikán was the first Olympic champion to represent independent Slovakia. He entered the 2000 Olympics as the favourite, having consistently finished near the top in every major competition and in each World Cup series. At the Sydney Games, Martikán registered the best score in the qualifying round, but was only in fifth place after the first run of the final. In the second run, he paddled a perfect course and his time was the fastest of the round. He was able to move up to the silver medal position behind Tony Estanguet of France. Competing in his third Olympics in 2004, Martikán again led the qualifying round. He also earned the highest score in the semifinals, which also served as the first run of the final. After the second run, it appeared that Martikán had regained the Olympic title, but the referees controversially decided to award him a two-second penalty which pushed him to second place, only 12 hundredths of a second behind Estanguet. Martikán regained the Olympic title at the 2008 games in Beijing.^[2] At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London Martikán took bronze. Michal Martikán is the only slalom canoeist to win five Olympic medals, one in each of the five games from 1996 through 2012.

At the World Championships, Martikán had an uninterrupted medal run in the individual C-1 event between 1995 and 2010. The 2011 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships saw him finish outside the medals for the first time in an Olympic or World Championship individual race in his career. Ironically, this failure came in front of a home crowd on the Čunovo course near Bratislava. However, he managed to win gold in the team event with his Slovak teammates to prolong his medal run. He won another three gold medals in the C-1 team event between 2013 and 2015, making it 14 straight World Championships with a medal.

He won his first medals in 1995 when he was just 16. He took a bronze in the C-1 event and another bronze in the C-1 team event. In 1997 he won his first individual world title as well as team gold. He won the individual C-1 event on three more occasions (2002, 2003 and 2007). As of 2014 he has a total of 18 World Championship medals (11 golds, 3 silvers and 4 bronzes) which is more than any other slalom paddler in any category.

He has also won the overall World Cup title five times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2014), which is a record among C-1 paddlers.

At the European Championships he has won four straight individual golds between 2007 and 2010. Slovakia won the C-1 team event 10 times with him in the team. He also has 5 silvers (4 individual and 1 in team event) and 1 bronze (in the team event).

World Cup individual podiums

Season	Date	Venue	Position	Event
1995	2 Jul 1995	Tacen	2nd	C1
1996	21 Apr 1996	Ocoee	1st	C1
	16 Jun 1996	Augsburg	3rd	C1
1997	6 Jul 1997	Bratislava	1st	C1
1998	21 Jun 1998	Tacen	1st	C1
	28 Jun 1998	Augsburg	3rd	C1
	13 Sep 1998	La Seu d'Urgell	1st	C1
1999	15 Aug 1999	Bratislava	3rd	C1
	22 Aug 1999	Augsburg	1st	C1
	3 Oct 1999	Penrith	2nd	C1
2000	30 Apr 2000	Penrith	1st	C1
	9 Jul 2000	La Seu d'Urgell	1st	C1
	30 Jul 2000	Augsburg	2nd	C1
2001	10 Jun 2001	Tacen	1st	C1
	29 Jul 2001	Augsburg	3rd	C1
	9 Sep 2001	Wausau	1st	C1
2002	21 Jul 2002	Augsburg	3rd	C1
	28 Jul 2002	Tacen	1st	C1
2003	11 May 2003	Penrith	3rd	C1
	6 Jul 2003	La Seu d'Urgell	1st	C1
	3 Aug 2003	Bratislava	2nd	C1
2004	23 Apr 2004	Athens	2nd	C1
	11 Jul 2004	Prague	3rd	C1
	25 Jul 2004	Bourg St.-Maurice	3rd	C1
2005	1 Oct 2005	Penrith	3rd	C1^1
2006	28 May 2006	Athens	1st	C1
	4 Jun 2006	Augsburg	2nd	C1
	11 Jun 2006	La Seu d'Urgell	3rd	C1
	2 Jul 2006	L'Argentière-la-Bessée	2nd	C1^2
	6 Aug 2006	Prague	2nd	C1^1
2007	30 Jun 2007	Prague	2nd	C1
	8 Jul 2007	Tacen	1st	C1
2008	16 Mar 2008	Penrith	1st	C1^3
2009	5 Jul 2009	Bratislava	1st	C1
2011	9 Jul 2011	Markkleeberg	1st	C1
2013	24 Aug 2013	Bratislava	1st	C1
2014	7 Jun 2014	Lee Valley	3rd	C1
	14 Jun 2014	Tacen	2nd	C1
	21 Jun 2014	Prague	1st	C1
	2 Aug 2014	La Seu d'Urgell	3rd	C1
2015	4 Jul 2015	Liptovský Mikuláš	1st	C1

¹ World Championship counting for World Cup points

² European Championship counting for World Cup points

³ Oceania Championship counting for World Cup points

Manslaughter conviction

In November 1997 Martikán was involved in a car accident near the village of Velké Zálužie, Slovakia.^[3] The car he was driving hit a pedestrian causing him fatal injuries. The investigation concluded that Martikán was traveling substantially over the 40 km/h speed limit. It was also found that the killed man was intoxicated at the time of the accident.

With Martikán facing actual incarceration due to the violation of his probation terms, then-president Rudolf Schuster, amid grave criticism, granted Martikán a presidential pardon,^[4] which besides sparing him from jail time effectively meant removal of the conviction from his criminal record. Schuster argued that Martikán's positive athletic representation of the country abroad warranted the pardon, while critics pointed to the double standard and the preferential treatment Martikán was receiving as a sport celebrity.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic medalists in one event

References

1. "Seeing is believing for Slovakia's Martikan" – Reuters. August 12, 2008. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
2. "GB's Florence claims canoe silver". BBC Sport. 2008-08-12. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
3. "Olympic winner kills a pedestrian". The Slovak Spectator. December 4, 1997. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
4. "Amnesties a relic of feudal powers". The Slovak Spectator. January 29, 2001. Retrieved 2008-08-17.

External links

• Official website
• Michal Martikán at Sports Reference
• 2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships 12 September 2010 C-1 men's final results. – accessed 12 September 2010.
• 2010 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships 12 September 2010 C-1 men's team final results – accessed 12 September 2010.
• 12 September 2009 final results of the men's C-1 team slalom event for the 2009 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. – accessed 12 September 2009.
• 13 September 2009 final results of the men's C-1 event at the 2009 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. – accessed 13 September 2009.
• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007.
• Sports-reference.com profile