Oliver Zeidler is the reigning Olympic and world champion in the men's single sculls, which he first won at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and defended in 2022 and 2023.
13 Facts About Oliver Zeidler
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Oliver Zeidler was born into a rowing family, with grandfather Hans-Johann Farber a double-Olympic medallist.
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Oliver Zeidler's grandfather trains his sister Marie was born on 1999 and who has won medals at 2016 and 2017 World Rowing Junior Championships.
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Oliver Zeidler is trained by his father, Heino Zeidler, himself a former junior world champion rower and a senior representative rower for Germany in the 1990s.
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Oliver Zeidler's aunt, Judith Zeidler, is an Olympic gold and bronze medallist in rowing and his aunt is married to double-Olympian Matthias Ungemach.
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Oliver Zeidler ended his competitive swimming career in February 2017.
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The previous month, Oliver Zeidler had come third at the German under-23 championships in single scull.
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At the World Rowing Cup II race, the Czech and Swiss were not at the start and Oliver Zeidler again won bronze, this time beaten by the New Zealander Robbie Manson and the German champion Tim Ole Naske.
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At the World Rowing Cup III race, Oliver Zeidler won silver, again beaten by Manson.
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Oliver Zeidler made the A-final at the 2018 World Championships but finished in overall sixth place.
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Oliver Zeidler took gold at the European Championships, won a gold medal at the World Cup II in Poznan and then placed 13th at the WRC III in Rotterdam.
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Oliver Zeidler stuck to his race plan and his long work through the water saw him come over the top of his rivals in the last few strokes, in a finish where the top five scullers were separated by only a 1-second spread.
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In 2024, Oliver Zeidler kicked off the Olympic racing season with a win at the World Rowing Cup held in Varese, Italy, on 14 April.