Designed for rowing: Olaf Tufte

The name Olaf Tufte has become synonymous with rowing for decades, and not just in his home country of Norway, but internationally. Recently retired after 26 years of elite rowing, Tufte is the recipient of the 2021 Thomas Keller medal.

The win is even more significant as he was up against arguably two of the very best single scullers in rowing ever – two-time Olympic Champions Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand) and Ekaterina Karsten (Belarus).

“This was really a big surprise for me,” said Tufte after receiving the award. “The winners of the Thomas Keller Medal have always been my idols. They’ve been the pioneers, showing us young rowers how to act on the course and off the course. So to be acknowledged for the things I became because of the rowing family.

“I have two families, I have the Tufte family, but my biggest family is the rowing family. And as I say ‘If you pull on an oar you’re a rower and you’re part of my family’. Rowing is the reason I became the person I am.”

The start of Tufte’s rowing career was as a teenager with a passion for moto-cross. To help his fitness for moto-cross, Tufte was introduced to the indoor rowing machine. Tufte saw his interests change when he realised that he was already better than everyone else on the indoor rower. Rowing became his primary sport. Three years after taking up rowing Tufte was off to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics racing in the four. This would be the first of seven Olympics that Tufte would compete in.

Following Atlanta, Tufte teamed up in the double sculls with Fredrik Bekken, and the duo won silver at the Sydney Olympic Games. Bekken then took a break from rowing which put Tufte into the single sculls, and the rest is history. Just a year later, 2001, Tufte was the World Champion in the single sculls, beating out Iztok Cop (Slovenia) and Vaclav Chalupa (Czech Republic) in a three-way photo finish. Tufte was the first Norwegian ever to win the single sculls world champion title.

Now firmly settled into the single, Tufte was vital in bringing the lone-wolf single scullers together as friends.

“We started a new generation for single scullers,” says Tufte. “Iztok and me became the best of friends. So we tried to out-battle each other on the water and then we had good fun off the water. From this moment on, the single scullers started to be friends. We travelled, we trained together and we ended up in the Great Eight*. This is one of the best memories I have.”

Olaf Tufte was Cop’s best man at Cop’s wedding, Drysdale named his dog ‘Oslo’ in honour of Tufte, and more recently, current single sculler and 2019 World Champion, Oliver Zeidler (Germany) was in Norway and joined Tufte on his farm. Tufte got him chopping wood.

Tufte remained in the single, finishing with bronze at the 2002 World Championships, behind Marcel Hacker and Cop. He then came back to win another world championship title in 2003 (ahead of Cop and Hacker). He also raced in his country’s quadruple sculls at the same regatta. At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Tufte became an Olympic Champion and then successfully defended this title at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This cemented Tufte’s position as one of the best single scullers in rowing.

At Tufte’s fifth Olympic Games the now two-time Olympic Champion finished in the B-final. He then joined forces with countryman Kjetil Borch in the double sculls, and at the Rio Olympics the duo won bronze. Tufte’s final Olympic Games – number seven – was Tokyo. Now 45 years old, Tufte joined the Norwegian quadruple sculls and finished his rowing career as the mentor in a boat where his team mates had not even been born when Tufte started rowing.

Coached by some of the best in the world, including Thor Nielsen, the biggest challenge for his coaches was to get Tufte to do less training. ‘Rest’ has never been a word that sits easily with Tufte.

“I’m not made for resting,” says Tufte. “I need to do other stuff otherwise I get bored”.

The ‘other stuff’ includes running the family farm, firefighting, a concreting business, a clothing company ‘Tufte Wear’ and of late, a brewery.

Interviewed by Martin Cross, Tufte was asked about his longevity in the sport. His reply was simple, “I know what I do, I know the rowing family and I managed to do rowing as a lifestyle not as a moment.”

*The ‘Great Eight’ was when the eight top men’s single scullers in the world came together to race. The crew raced at the Head of the Charles in the United States more than once, and in 2016 was made up of Julien Bahain (FRA), Alan Campbell (GBR), Mahe Drysdale (NZL), Rob Gibson (CAN), Eric Johannesen (GER), Damir Martin (CRO), James McRae (AUS), Olaf Tufte (NOR) and coxswain Peter Wiersum (NED). They also raced in Great Britain.”

About the Thomas Keller Medal

The Thomas Keller Medal is the highest distinction in the sport of rowing. It is awarded to recognise an exceptional international rowing career as well as exemplary sportsmanship and legendary aspect.

The award was named after the late President of the World Rowing Federation, Thomas Keller. Born in 1924, Keller was elected President of World Rowing in 1958 as a 34-year-old and was then the youngest-ever president of an international sports federation.