 Hansen with the Holland Beker trophy in 1978[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Alf John Hansen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 13 July 1948 (1948-07-13) (age 77) Oslo, Norway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 85 kg (187 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Frank Hansen (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Ormsund Roklub, Oslo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alf John Hansen (born 13 July 1948) is a retiredrower from Norway. Early in his career, he received two Norwegian sport awards shared with his brotherFrank. Towards the end of his career in 1990, he was the inaugural recipient of theThomas Keller Medal, the highest honour in rowing. His international rowing career spanned more than two decades.
Hansen was born in 1948 inOslo.[2] His first international rowing success came at the1970 World Rowing Championships inSt. Catharines, Canada, where he won a bronze medal with the coxed four.[3] At the1971 European Rowing Championships, the coxed four team came seventh.[4] He competed at the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich, Germany, where thecoxed four team came ninth.[2] At the1973 European Rowing Championships, the coxed four team came fifth.[4]
He then changed boats and competed at the1974 World Rowing Championships inLucerne, Switzerland, in double sculls with his brotherFrank; they won a silver medal beaten by a team from East Germany.[5] At the1975 World Rowing Championships inNottingham, the Hansen brothers won the world championship title in the double sculls.[4] In 1976, the brothers won a gold medal at theMontreal Olympic Games in the same boat class.[2] At the1977 World Rowing Championships, Hansen competed in the single sculls and came tenth.[4] The brothers would then return to double sculls and win the1978 and1979 World Championships.[4] Unfortunately the Norwegian Rowing Federationboycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980, so the brothers were unable to defend their Olympic title. Frank officially retired after the Moscow Olympics.
Alf Hansen continued his career and teamed up withRolf Thorsen in the double sculls. At the1981 World Rowing Championships inMunich, Germany, they won a bronze medal. At the1982 World Rowing Championships inLucerne, Switzerland, they became world champions. At the1983 World Rowing Championships inDuisburg, Germany, they won a silver medal.[4] At the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles they came tenth.[2]
At the1986 World Rowing Championships, Hansen and Thorsen were both part of the Norwegian quad scull team that came ninth; their team members wereVetle Vinje andLars Bjønness.[6] At the1987 World Rowing Championships, the same team won a silver medal.[7] The four stayed together and competed at the1988 Summer Olympics inSeoul where they won Olympic silver.[2]
At the1989 World Rowing Championships inBled, Hansen was part of a newly-composed quad scull team; they came sixth.[8] Hansen ended his professional career after the1991 World Rowing Championships at the age of 43.[4]
The Hansen brothers were awarded theAftenposten Gold Medal after their world championship win in 1975; it is one of the highest awards that are awarded within Norwegian sport.[9] After their 1976 Olympic gold, the Hansen brothers were awarded theFearnley award.[10] In 1990, Alf Hansen was the inaugural recipient of theThomas Keller Medal. The medal is given by theInternational Rowing Federation (FISA) for an outstanding international career in thesport of rowing as well as exemplarysportsmanship. It is the highest honour in rowing.[11]
Thomas Keller Medal recipients | |
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See also:Thomas Keller |
