David Florence

David Florence

Florence (left) and Hounslow at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	Scottish
Born	(1982-08-08) 8 August 1982 (age 34) Aberdeen, Scotland
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Canoe slalom
Event(s)	C-1, C-2
Club	Forth
Medal record Olympic Games 2008 Beijing C-1 2012 London C-2 2016 Rio de Janeiro C-2 World Championships 2006 Prague C-1 team 2009 La Seu d'Urgell C-2 team 2010 Tacen C-2 2011 Bratislava C-2 team 2013 Prague C-1 2013 Prague C-2 2013 Prague C-2 team 2015 London C-1 2015 London C-2 team European Championships 2009 Nottingham C-2 team 2010 Bratislava C-2 2010 Bratislava C-2 team 2012 Augsburg C-2 team 2015 Markkleeberg C-2 2015 Markkleeberg C-1 team 2016 Liptovský Mikuláš C-1 team

David Florence (born 8 August 1982) is a British slalom canoeist who has competed since the early 2000s. He was the 2013 and 2015 world champion in individual canoe (C-1) slalom, and 2013 pairs canoe (C-2) slalom, the latter with Richard Hounslow. Florence was the first canoeist since Charles Dussuet, sixty years earlier, to achieve the C-1, C-2 'double' in the same world championships.

Florence won silver medals at three consecutive Olympics: in the C-1 in 2008 and in the C-2 in 2012 and 2016 (with Richard Hounslow).

Having been born in Aberdeen, Florence lived in Edinburgh between the ages of 7 and 18 on the same street as future world and Olympic cycling champion Chris Hoy. He attended Roseburn Primary School and Stewarts Melville College secondary school and, as a result, has a SMBC. He began canoeing at the age of 14, on the Water of Leith, and was eventually invited to join the Forth Canoe Club, where most of his training was done on the Union Canal. He went to the University of Nottingham and studied mathematical physics, but says his main reason for choosing to move to Nottingham was because it is the home of the National Watersports Centre. His father, George, is a former Scottish canoeing champion and his brother, Fraser also canoes for Scotland. His Uncle Angus Florence also canoed for Scotland.

Florence finished 4th in the 2005 European Championships and 15th in the World Championships the same year. He also won a bronze medal in the World Cup event in Seu. In 2006 he improved to a sixth-place finish in the World Championships, won a bronze in the C-1 team, and took the gold medal at the World Cup in Augsburg. In 2007 he took 5th place at the World Championships and two World Cup medals, bronzes in Prague and Augsburg. In 2009 he started competing in C-2 alongside Richard Hounslow and he won a silver in the C-2 team event at the 2009 world championships in La Seu d'Urgell. He went on to win a bronze in the C-2 event at the 2010 world championships in Tacen and another one in the C-2 team event at the 2011 world championships in Bratislava. At the 2013 world championships in Prague he won 2 golds (C-1 and C-2) and 1 bronze (C-2 team).