Mark de Jonge

Mark de Jonge

De Jonge at the 2013 World Championships
Personal information
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1984-02-15) February 15, 1984 (age 33) Calgary, Alberta
Residence	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	91 kg (201 lb)
Sport
Sport	Kayaking
Event(s)	200 m
Medal record Men's canoe sprint Representing  Canada Olympic Games 2012 London K-1 200 m World Championships 2014 Moscow K-1 200 m 2015 Milan K-1 200 m 2013 Duisburg K-1 200 m Pan American Games 2015 Toronto K-1 200 m 2007 Rio de Janeiro K-4 1,000 m 2003 Santo Domingo K-1 500 m 2015 Toronto K-2 200 m

Mark de Jonge (born 15 February 1984) is a Canadian male sprint canoeist, primarily specializing the 200 m kayak event. De Jonge won a bronze medal in the K-1 200 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He is the two time reigning world champion in same event having also won a silver medal at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in 2013. He is also the current Pan American champion in the 200 having won gold in Toronto at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, where he also won an additional bronze, and a silver and bronze at previous editions of the Pan Am Games. De Jong is currently the world record holder in the 200 m. He was named the Air Canada Athlete of the Year in 2015 for Canada.

Born in Calgary in 1984, De Jonge moved to Halifax in 1997 where he started kayaking. His parents enrolled him in the popular local sport at the Maskwa Aquatics Club as a way of getting to know other children in the area.

Despite being a competitive kayaker he missed out on the 2004 and 2008 editions of the Summer Olympics. He did win a silver medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in the men's K-4 1,000 metres event, alongside Angus Mortimer, Jeremy Bordeleau and Chris Pellini.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics he won bronze in the K-1 200 metres event. When the quick sprint 200 m event was added to the Olympics De Jonge saw his opportunities flourish, as the event suited his skill set aptly. Yet he missed out on most of the qualifying events after he dropped an 80lb weight on his finger training in 2012. Despite the injury he still managed to win the national trials and qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. There he won a bronze in the inaugural event. After he said "Obviously, I did want gold. But I was never thinking about the result. I’m happy with the bronze. I’m really happy that I had an awesome race out there, three really good races at the Olympics. I’m proud that, when the time came, I was really ready to go."