Pierre van der Westhuyzen

Pierre van der Westhuyzen

Personal information
Nationality	South African/Australian
Born	(2003-08-18) August 18, 2003 (age 21)[1] Bellville, South Africa
Home town	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Sprint kayak
Event	K-4 500 m
Medal record Men's canoe sprint Representing  Australia Olympic Games 2024 Paris K-4 500 m

Pierre van der Westhuyzen (born August 18, 2003) is a South African canoeist. He represented Australia at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Van der Westhuyzen was born in Bellville, South Africa, and grew up in Cape Town. He and his brother, Jean, began canoeing while attending Michaelhouse in KwaZulu-Natal.[2][3]

Career

He competed at the 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in the K-4 500 metres event and finished in fourth place with a time of 1:19.905. As a result, they qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[4] At the Olympics he competed in the K-4 500 metres event and won a silver medal.[5] Following a photo finish, they missed winning the gold medal by 0.04 seconds.[6]

References

1. "Pierre van der Westhuyzen". olympics.com. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
2. "Brotherly Bond drives Olympic selection". bond.edu.au. March 13, 2024. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
3. "Pierre van der Westhuyzen". olympics.com.au. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
4. Smirnova, Lena (August 25, 2023). "ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships: Germany regains men's K-4 500m crown as 86 athletes secure Paris 2024 quotas for their federations". olympics.com. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
5. "SportParis Olympics: Australia win silver medal in men's kayak four 500m sprint". abc.net.au. August 8, 2024. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
6. Jeffrey, Daniel (August 8, 2024). "Aussie men's four denied gold by millimetres after agonising wait for photo". nine.com. Retrieved August 8, 2024.

External links

• Pierre van der Westhuyzen at the International Canoe Federation
• Pierre van der Westhuyzen at Olympics.com
• Pierre van der Westhuyzen at the Australian Olympic Committee
• Pierre van der Westhuyzen at Olympedia