Robert Oliver smiling in his canoe in Tokyo

Rob Oliver

Canoe

Region

Birmingham
Date of Birth

14/01/1988
Classification

KL1

Bio

Rob Oliver provided one of the most dramatic moments of the Paralympic paracanoe competition in Tokyo in 2021 as he claimed KL3 bronze after a photo finish.

That completed a five-year journey for Oliver, who finished fifth in the KL3 as paracanoeing made its debut on the Paralympic schedule at Rio 2016. Following Tokyo, Oliver went one better than his Paralympic bronze by claiming World Championship silver in Copenhagen two weeks later.

He didn’t stop there and built on his 2021 successes in 2022, winning another silver medal at the World Championships in Canada. Sadly for the Solihull paddler, an injury suffered at the beginning of 2023 ruled him out of the international season for that year.

Paris 2024 marked his third Games having represented ParalympicsGB at every event since paracanoe’s debut in Rio.

Oliver joined the British paracanoe squad through a talent ID day back in 2011 and won his first World Championship medal in 2015, a silver in the KL3.

His other career highlights include the bronze and silver medals he won in 2019 in front of his parents and brother, just five days apart in Poznan at the European Championships and World Cup respectively.

Oliver is a talented sportsman, after a spell as a weightlifter he played football at a variety of levels as a teenager. In 2008 he broke his leg during a match, which required 17 operations. Nine months later he had his leg amputated due to medical negligence.

Aged just 20, he felt like this area of his life had come to an end, until he found kayaking in 2011.

Major Results

2020 Paralympic Games, Tokyo, Japan

KL3 200m: bronze

2016 Paralympics Games, Rio, Brazil

KL3 200m: 5th

2022 World Championships, Canada

KL3 200m: Silver

2019 European Championships, Poznan, Poland

KL3 200m: Bronze

2017 European Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

KL3 200m: Silver

2015 World Championships, Milan, Italy

KL3 200m: Silver

2015 European Championships, Racice, Czech Republic

KL3 200m: Gold

2013 European Championships, Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal

K1 LTA 200m: Bronze

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