Michal Martikán

Michal Martikán ( born May 18, 1979 in Liptovsky Mikuláš ) is a Slovakian Canoe slalom in the Canadian one.

Michal Martikán heard since the 1995 World Championships in Nottingham, where he won the bronze medal in the individual as well as in a team, a world leader in his sport. The first World Championship title he won in 1997 in Três Coroas. He also won team gold. For more world titles followed in 2002 in Bourg -Saint -Maurice, 2003 in Augsburg ( again double gold) and 2007 in Foz do Iguaçu. Silver he won in 2006 in Prague, bronze in 1999 in La Seu d' Urgell and 2005 in Penrith. At the European Championships in 2008 in Cracow, he won a gold medal with the team and in singles. He often took top places in the World Cup. He was the one of the youngest athletes as a 16- year-old winner of a world cup was.

His greatest success of the then just 17 years old Slovak Olympic Games. In 1996 he won gold in Atlanta. 2000 Sydney and 2004 in Athens, he won silver behind Tony Estanguet. At the 2008 Games in Beijing, he won gold again. This Martikán is the most successful driver in the canoe slalom singles at the Olympic Games. His first winning the gold medal in 1996 was also the first gold medal win for Slovakia after the split of Czechoslovakia.