# Tim Brabants > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tim_Brabants > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tim_Brabants.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Brabants > Source revision: 1309823089 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Jules Timothy Brabants** [MBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (born 23 January 1977) is a British [sprint kayaker](/source/Kayak_racing) who has competed since the late 1990s. Competing in four [Summer Olympics](/source/Summer_Olympics), he won three medals with one gold ([2008](/source/2008_Summer_Olympics): K-1 1000 m) and two bronzes ([2000](/source/2000_Summer_Olympics): K-1 1000 m, 2008: K-1 500 m). ## Early life and education Tim Brabants was born in [Chertsey](/source/Chertsey). He first began his canoeing career at Elmbridge Canoe Club in Elmbridge. Brabants was educated at the [Salesian School](/source/Salesian_School,_Chertsey), a [Voluntary Aided](/source/Voluntary_aided_school) co-educational [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) comprehensive school in [Chertsey](/source/Chertsey), Surrey, followed by the [University of Nottingham](/source/University_of_Nottingham). ## Career Brabants trained at Royal Canoe Club, the world's oldest canoe club located in Teddington, London. Brabants won the K-1 1000 m European championship at [Szeged](/source/Szeged), Hungary in 2002, the first time a British paddler had won the [blue riband](/source/Canoe_racing) event. The [2004 Olympics](/source/Canoeing_at_the_2004_Summer_Olympics#Sprint) however were a disappointment. Brabants had won a European silver medal at [Poznań](/source/Pozna%C5%84) earlier in the season and was the fastest qualifier for the Olympic K-1 1000 m final with the world's fastest time of 3:24.412. However, in the final itself he finished in fifth place. He took a year off from competitive kayaking in 2005 to complete his medical studies at the [University of Nottingham](/source/University_of_Nottingham) followed by a spell as a doctor in [Jersey](/source/Jersey). However, he returned to action in 2006, winning the gold medal in [Račice](/source/Ra%C4%8Dice_(Litom%C4%9B%C5%99ice_District)) in the K-1 1000 m event at the European Championships and the silver medal in the same event at the [World Championships](/source/2006_ICF_Canoe_Sprint_World_Championships) in Szeged in August 2006, finishing just 0.06 seconds behind Sweden's [Markus Oscarsson](/source/Markus_Oscarsson). 2007 was an even better year. Brabants competed in the K-1 500 m discipline as well and at the European Championships won Silver for the 1000 m and Gold for the 500 m. At the [2007 World Championships](/source/2007_ICF_Canoe_Sprint_World_Championships) in [Duisburg](/source/Duisburg), Brabants won gold in the K-1 1000 m and silver in the K-1 500 m events, thus securing a place for Great Britain at the [2008 Summer Olympics](/source/2008_Summer_Olympics) in Beijing. At these games Brabants made his way into the history books by being the first Briton to win a gold medal in either the sprint or slalom kayak discipline. This he achieved by a convincing win in the K-1 1000 m, leading from start to finish. Although best known as a sprinter, Brabants' first success as a senior international had in fact come in the marathon. He won a silver medal at the 1998 [World Canoe Marathon Championships](/source/ICF_canoe_marathon) in [Cape Town](/source/Cape_Town), South Africa.[1] Brabants is a member of the [Nottingham](/source/Nottingham) Kayak Club and is a physician by profession. He is 188 cm (6'2) tall and weighs 85 kg (187 lbs). Brabants was appointed a [Member of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Member_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (MBE) in the [2009 New Year Honours](/source/2009_New_Year_Honours) for services to sport.[2] In 2010, he won a silver in the K-1 1000 m event at the [world championships](/source/2010_ICF_Canoe_Sprint_World_Championships). Brabants was selected for the canoe sprint team for London Olympics 2012, where he finished 8th.[3] ## Notes 1. ["TimBrabants.com | Career Highlights"](http://timbrabants.com/carrer_highlights.php). *timbrabants.com*. Retrieved 2023-05-24. 1. United Kingdom No. 58929. 31 December 2008. p. 14. 1. ["London 2012: Tim Brabants will defend his canoe sprint title"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/18441127). 14 June 2012. ## References - [ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936–2007](https://web.archive.org/web/20100105013709/http://canoeicf.com/site/canoeint/if/downloads/result/Pages%201-41%20from%20Medal%20Winners%20ICF%20updated%202007-2.pdf?MenuID=Results%2F1107%2F0%2CMedal%5Fwinners%5Fsince%5F1936%2F1510%2F0) 2010-01-05 at the Wayback Machine - [ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007](https://www.webcitation.org/5l9vPO85Y?url=http://www.canoeicf.com/site/canoeint/if/downloads/result/Pages%2042-83%20from%20Medal%20Winners%20ICF%20updated%202007.pdf?MenuID=Results%2F1107%2F0%2CMedal%5Fwinners%5Fsince%5F1936%2F1510%2F0) 2009-11-09 at WebCite ## External links - [Official website](http://www.timbrabants.com/) - ["Elmbridge Canoe Club | Canoeing in Surrey"](https://elmbridgecanoeclub.com/). Retrieved 2023-05-24. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tim Brabants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Brabants) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Brabants?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.