Jan Benzien
Benzien in 2008
Personal information
Born22 July 1982 (1982-07-22) (age 41)
Giessen, West Germany[1]
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
SportCanoe slalom
ClubLeipziger Kanu Club
Coached byMichael Trummer (national)
Frithjof Bergner (club)[3]

Jan Benzien (born 22 July 1982) is a German slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 1999. Benzien started out as a C1 paddler. Since 2012 he has also been competing in C2, teaming up with Franz Anton.

He won eleven medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with two golds (C1 team: 2006, C2: 2015), eight silvers (C1: 2002; C1 team: 2002, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013; C2 team: 2015), and a bronze (C1: 2009). He won additional 16 medals at the European Championships (3 golds, 7 silvers, and 6 bronzes).[4]

Benzien competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the C1 event, he finished second in the qualification round, thus progressing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Benzien finished twelfth, failing to reach the top eight and the final round.[1] At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he placed fourth in the C2 event, together with teammate Franz Anton.[1]

Benzien serves with the German Army and has a degree in sport management from the Vocational Academy of Riesa. He is married to the Olympic canoeist Mandy Planert; they have children, Justus Jonas and Mika. In 2014, he launched a canoe rental company in Leipzig.[3]

World Cup individual podiums

1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total
C12147
C21203
Total33410
Season Date Venue Position Event
20036 July 2003La Seu d'Urgell3rdC1
200430 May 2004Merano3rdC1
200517 July 2005Augsburg1stC1
200628 May 2006Athens3rdC1
200928 June 2009Pau1stC1
12 July 2009Augsburg3rdC1
20119 July 2011Markkleeberg2ndC1
20122 September 2012Bratislava1stC2
20148 June 2014Lee Valley2ndC2
17 August 2014Augsburg2ndC2

References

  1. 1 2 3 Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jan Benzien". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011.
  2. Jan Benzien Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  3. 1 2 Jan Benzien. nbcolympics.com
  4. "Jan BENZIEN (GER)". CanoeSlalom.net. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.


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