Adam van Koeverden

He was born in Toronto to a Dutch father, Joe van Koeverden, and a Hungarian mother, Beata Bokrossy.^[2][3][4] Van Koeverden attended St. John Catholic Elementary School in Oakville, Ontario, graduating in 1996. He then proceeded to go to St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School also located in Oakville. He plays guitar.

Van Koeverden is a graduate of McMaster University's Bachelor of Science Kinesiology program in Hamilton, Ontario. He graduated in June 2007 as valedictorian of his class.^[5]

He won a bronze medal in the K-1 1000 m at the 1999 world junior championships in Zagreb, Croatia, and then became world junior marathon champion in 2000. His first success as a senior came with a silver medal at the 2003 world championships in Gainesville, Georgia, in the men's K-1 1000 m event. At the 2004 Summer Olympics Van Koeverden won two medals, including a gold in the K-1 500 m and a bronze in the K-1 1000 m. He was Canada's flag bearer at the closing ceremonies and was later awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete of 2004.

In 2005, Van Koeverden won two medals at the 2005 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Zagreb: a silver in the K-1 1000 m and a bronze in the K-1 500 m. At the 2006 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary, Van Koeverden finished fourth in both the K-1 500 m and 1000 m finals. At the 2006 Canadian Sprint Canoe Championships in Regina, Saskatchewan, he won five gold medals (K-1 1000 m, K-2 1000 m, K-4 1000 m, K-4 200 m, and War Canoe), and two silver medals (K-1 200 m and K-2 200 m).

Van Koeverden had great success on the World Cup circuit in 2007, going undefeated over both 500 m and 1000 m in three competitions.^[6] At the 2007 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg, Van Koeverden won the gold medal in the K-1 500 m and the silver medal in the K-1 1000 m.

Van Koeverden beat his own world record in the K-1 500 m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a time of 1:35.554.^[7] He finished eighth place in the 1000m race, and finished with a silver medal in the K-1 500 m race. Originally, he had been listed as bronze medalist, until the scoreboard was corrected to indicate he had finished second. Van Koeverden had led most of the way from the start but was overtaken by the Australian winner Ken Wallace at the finish line, with British bronze medallist Tim Brabants ending in a photo finish with him.

In the leadup to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Van Koeverden was named flag bearer for the Canadian Olympic team at the opening ceremony, making him one of the few athletes to carry Canada's flag twice at the Olympics.^[8] To celebrate the success of the hometown hero, on October 17, 2008, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton and local councillors hosted a meet and greet session. A ceremonial street name unveiling to honour Van Koeverden preceded the event. Adam van Koeverden Street, which is currently known as Water Street, is located near his Oakville harbour home club, the Burloak Canoe Club.^[9]

At the 2009 world championships in Dartmouth, he won a bronze medal in the K-1 1000 m event. The following year, he won another bronze, only this time it was in the K-1 500 m event. Continuing to build on these achievements at the world's, Van Koeverden went to the 2011 world championships competing in the K-1 1000 m, where he finally won gold.^[10]

At the 2012 London Olympics he won the silver medal in the same event, while Norwegian Eirik Verås Larsen won gold.^[11] At the 2016 Rio Olympics he finished first in the B final, placing ninth overall.^[12]

In 2022, Van Koeverden was awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.^[13]

On October 4, 2018, Van Koeverden announced he would be seeking the nomination of the Liberal Party of Canada in the riding of Milton to be a candidate in the 2019 Canadian federal election.^[14][15] Van Koeverden won the Liberal nomination on January 20, 2019, and won the Liberal seat in Milton on October 21, 2019,^[16] defeating the incumbent, Conservative Party deputy leader Lisa Raitt, taking over 51% of the vote to Raitt's 36%.

In the 2021 federal election, Van Koeverden received over 51% of the vote defeating challenger Nadeem Akbar who carried just over 33% of the vote.^[17]

In 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Van Koeverden was one of the 313 Canadians banned from entering Russia because of his support for Ukraine.^[18]

Also in 2022, Van Koeverden told an Ontario born New Zealand school teacher to "F--- off" during a heated exchange on Canada's covid vaccine policy. Van Koeverden apologized indirectly for the vulgar utterance.^[19]

As of November 2023, Van Koeverden was listed on the House of Commons website as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity.^[20]

• List of Canadian sports personalities

• Kamber, Raymond, ed. (2008). Medal Winners – Olympic Games and World Championships (1936–2007) – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint). CanoeICF.com. International Canoe Federation. pp. 1–41 at the Wayback Machine (archived January 5, 2010). Additional archives: January 13, 2016.
• Kamber, Raymond, ed. (2008). Medal Winners – Olympic Games and World Championships (1936–2007) – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines. CanoeICF.com. International Canoe Federation. pp. 42–83 at WebCite (archived November 9, 2009). Additional archives: March 11, 2016.

• Adam van Koeverden – Parliament of Canada biography
• Adam van Koeverden on Real Champions at the Wayback Machine (archived September 9, 2007)
• Canoe09.ca profile at the Wayback Machine (archived August 17, 2009)
• CanoeKayak Canada profile at the Wayback Machine (archived June 10, 2011)
• Adam van Koeverden at the International Canoe Federation
• Adam van Koeverden at Team Canada
• Adam van Koeverden at Olympics.com
• Adam van Koeverden at Olympedia
• Official website

Sporting positions
Preceded by Knut Holmann	Olympic  Gold Men's K-1 500m sprint Kayaking 2004	Succeeded by Ken Wallace
Preceded by Tim Brabants	Olympic  Bronze Men's K-1 1000m sprint Kayaking 2004	Succeeded by Ken Wallace
Preceded by Nathan Baggaley	Olympic  Silver Men's K-1 500m sprint Kayaking 2008	Succeeded by Event discontinued
Records
Preceded by	K-1 500m Men World Record 1:36.2	Succeeded by Adam van Koeverden
Preceded by Adam van Koeverden	K-1 500m Men World Record 1:35.630	Succeeded by Adam van Koeverden
Preceded by Adam van Koeverden	K-1 500m Men World Record 1:35.554	Succeeded by current