Richard Weiss
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's canoe slalom | ||
Representing  United States
|
||
| World Championships | ||
 |
1993 Mezzana | K-1 |
Richard Alfred "Rich" Weiss (September 18, 1963 in Munich – June 25, 1997, White Salmon River) was a West German-born, American slalom kayaker who competed from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. He won a silver medal in the K-1 event at the 1993 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Mezzana.
Weiss also competed in two Summer Olympics, earning his best finish of sixth in the K-1 event in Atlanta in 1996. His finish in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona was mired in controversy when the television replay showed a judge's error cost him a bronze medal.
Weiss earned a B.S. in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, an M.S. in Hydrogeology from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He founded and owned an environmental consulting company, Weisswater Associates.
He drowned in a kayaking accident on the White Salmon River in Washington state in 1997. Preparing for a race with a friend, he unsuccessfully attempted to run Big Brother, a Class-V rapid with a 30-foot waterfall. His wife, Rosi, gave birth soon afterwards to a boy whom she named "River". The accidental death of a world-class paddler was the subject of much reflection and soul-searching in the whitewater community. The town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado dedicated a park, with a statue, in his honor.
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