Олаф Карл Туфте: жеті дүркін олимпиадалық жүзушінің өмірі мен жетістіктері

Norwegian rower

Olaf Karl Tufte (born 27 April 1976 in Tønsberg) is a Norwegian rower, firefighter, and farmer. He is a seven time Olympian, and as a single sculler he was twice the Olympic champion and twice the world champion. He has been consistently selected to the Norwegian men's senior national rowing squad since 1996, including his selection as a 2020 Tokyo Olympian – where he made his seventh Olympic appearance, racing in the men's quadruple sculls.

Tufte started rowing at age 17, initially as a means to improve his handle on motor cross. He rows from the Horten Roklubb in Horten, Vestfold on the Oslofjord. He quickly displayed an aptitude for the sport and one year later, in 1994, he debuted internationally for Norway, rowing a single scull at the 1994 Junior World Rowing Championships. He finished sixth. In 1995, he raced in a Norwegian U23 quad scull which took silver at the Nations Cup in Holland.

Tufte's senior debut for Norway came at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. He rowed in the men's coxless four which finished in overall eighth place. Tuft placed fourth at the 2010 World Championships in New Zealand and sixth in 2011 in Slovenia. By the time of the 2012 London Olympics Tuft's star and form was waning. He was unsuccessful in defending his Olympic title missing the A final and finishing with an overall ninth ranking. After the 2012 Olympics, Tufte took a year off to treat and recover from a liver disease which had been affecting his form for some years. He returned to the elite level in the single scull but found himself outside the top placings in the 2014 international season. He lifted in 2015 and at that year's World Championships managed a fourth place behind his old rivals Synek, Drysdale and the Lithuanian Mindaugas Griskonis. Tufte's career was reborn in 2016 when he paired up with his Horten Roklubb clubmate, the world champion Kjetil Borch in a double scull. They lifted their ranking throughout 2016, qualified for the Rio Olympics at the final European qualification regatta and ultimately won a bronze medal in the men's double sculls in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They rowed on together in 2017 and placed fifth at the 2017 World Rowing Championships. In 2018 Tufte moved back into the quad scull where his career had started. He secured a seat as stroke of the Norwegian quad and they rowed at World Rowing Cups and European Championships through 2018 and 2019. Their seventh place ranking at the 2019 World Rowing Championships saw them qualify that boat for Tokyo 2020. By the time of the 2021 crew selections for those delayed Olympics, Tufte had held his seat and looked set to make his seventh Olympic rowing appearance.

When not rowing, Tufte earns a living growing cereals at the family farm in the Nykirke part of Horten, and he also works as a fire fighter.