Silken Suzette Laumann is a famous Canadian rowing athlete. She has won a number of medals on the world stage including the olympics. From 1976 to March 1999 she won three Olympic medals and four World Championships. After her rowing career Silken moved on to being a motivational speaker, author, working with charities and consultant.
She was born November 14, 1964 in Mississauga.
The event that brought Silken Laumann into the public spotlight resulted from a boating accident where many pieces of wood were lodged into her lower leg. What happened was on May 15, 1992 in Essen, Germany, During a warm-up race her boat was hit by another sculls boat. After several operations in a ten-day period and a skin graft, the doctors said her Olympic career was over and that she might never row again. The accident happened just 10 weeks before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Silken was one of the favourites to capture a gold medal.
However in a short time she made an amazing comeback to win the Bronze medal. Silken was training by late June. Her efforts paid off with a bronze medal, and she was subsequently named Canadian of the Year by the Canadian Club in recognition and was selected to carry the Canadian Flag in the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.
After a one-year absence to allow the injury to further heal, Laumann resumed competing in 1994, and she won a silver at the 1995 World Championships.
She also won a gold medal as part of a quad sculls team at the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina, Silken and her three crew mates were stripped of their gold medals after she tested positive for an over-the-counter cold remedy which contained a banned substance. She was assured by the Canadian physician at the site that it was all right to take Benadryl to treat a cold. It was. Unfortunately, she took Benadryl Allergy and Decongestant capsules which were not okay, containing pseudoephedrine, a decongestant which also acts as a stimulant. Silken accepted responsibility for the inadvertent error in her choice of cold medicine but also believes the doctor failed her by not differentiating between the two Benadryl preparations. However, all this did not stop her from being awarded the Canadian Olympic Order that same year
Her final competitive race was at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where Silken won a silver medal in single sculls. She formally announced her retirement three years later.
In November 2003, She established a national charity to improve the quality of life for children called Silken's Active KidsMovement, which is a not-for-profit organization designed to promote the health benefits of physical activity, and to inspire and support Canadians wishing to increase physical activity levels in children.
Silken has a strong commitment to children. She has been on the Board of Directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities, and helped raise money and morale with her visits to Ronald McDonald houses as their Honorary Patron.
Silken was involved in creating the Dynamic Opportunities for Youth Program - a national rowing program designed to build self-esteem in high-risk youth. She is also past Chairperson and currently sits on the International Board of Directors for the Right To Play, an international development agency dedicated to reintroducing play into the lives of children in refugee camps around the world,
Laumann was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal in 1999 for her outstanding international rowing career.
She now lives in Victoria, British Columbia and is consultant and motivational public speaker.
Among Silken Laumann's awards, achievements and honours are:
- Gold medal in quadruple sculls at the U.S. Championships
- 2 gold medals in single sculls at the Pan American Games
- A Bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics in the double sculls with her sister Daniele.
- A Bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
- A Silver medal in the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta in single sculls (her final competitive race)
- At the 1988 Olympics, Laumann finished seventh in the double scull.
- Laumann won a silver medal in single sculls at the 1990 World Championships, and the gold medal at the following year's World Championships.
- In 1994 the Silken Laumann Rose, a red miniature, was created in Victoria in time for the Commonwealth Games
- In 1995 a street in Mississauga was named Silken Laumann Way.
- In 1997 she won the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award - the first non-American to receive this award
- In 1997 Silken received Honourary Doctorate of Laws from University of Victoria, McMaster University and University of Windsor.
- In 1998 she was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
- In 1999 she won the Thomas Keller Medal for an Outstanding Career in Rowing.
- In 1999 inducted into Mississauga's Sports Hall of Fame
