Thomas Keller Medal finalist: Slovenia’s best

Iztok Cop is the third finalist to be announced for the 2010 Thomas Keller Medal Award.

As Cop currently looks towards his sixth Olympic Games in 2012, Slovenia’s most medalled athlete can reflect back on an international rowing career that began as a junior over 20 years ago when he became a Junior Champion in the pair under his former country, Yugoslavia.

Three years later the 20-year-old raced to a bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. This was Slovenia’s first Olympic medal as an independent nation. Cop did not stop there. Always challenging himself to new goals, Cop moved to the single sculls and in his first year, 1994, the Slovenian finished third at the World Rowing Championships in Indianapolis, USA. The following year Cop was the World Champion in this prestigious event. 

Cop remained in the single through the 1996 Olympic Games. Three years later he again showed his versatility by joining with Luka Spik to form a double scull. Again Cop took the world by storm when, together with Spik, they took out the World Champion title in 1999. A year later Cop won his first Olympic gold medal (along with Spik) beating good friend Olaf Tufte (NOR) in the final.

Cop, along with Spik, raced the next two Olympic Games in the double. In 2004 they picked up a silver medal.
In 2005 the ever-adaptable Cop raced at the World Rowing Championships in a double-header, in both the double and quadruple sculls. He finished the regatta with two more medals: gold and silver.

Since the 2008 Olympic Games Cop has focused on giving back to the sport by helping younger rowers in his country. He led a quad full of new Slovenian talent into the 2009 World Rowing Championships acting as mentor as well as rower.

Over his career Cop has been named World Rowing Male crew of the Year (with Spik in 2005) and last year he was presented with the Order of Service by the president of Slovenia, Danilo Turk.

In Cop’s nomination he was described as having “a lot of fair play” and being “a great enthusiast”. “He has taken on the greatest: Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, then Thomas Lange in the single, then Rob Waddell also Olaf Tufte, Marcel Hacker, Jueri Jaanson, only the greatest. He has had many successes in different boat classes as well as continuity.”

Cop is a finalist for rowing’s most prestigious award, the Thomas Keller Medal. Nominated through public submissions, Cop has the characteristics that qualify him for the award.

The Medal winner will be decided by the Thomas Keller Medal committee and will be announced in June. The medal will be presented to the recipient during the final stage of the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland, from 9 to 11 July 2010.