Remembering Olaf Tufte (1976–2026)

The rowing world is mourning the loss of Olaf Tufte, the Norwegian sculling legend who has died at the age of 50.

A career like no other

Olaf Karl Tufte competed at seven Olympic Games, from Atlanta 1996 to Tokyo 2020 — an extraordinary span matched by very few athletes in any sport. He won two Olympic gold medals in the single sculls, at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. He also claimed Olympic silver in the double sculls at Sydney 2000 alongside Fredrik Bekken, and bronze in the double with Kjetil Borch at Rio 2016, a medal collection that spans gold, silver and bronze across five different Games.

Away from the Olympics, Tufte was twice world champion in the single sculls, in 2001 and 2003, and was the first Norwegian ever to hold that title. He came up through an era of fierce single-scull rivals who became close friends, a fellowship later immortalised in the “Great Eight” reunion races at the Head of the Charles.

He closed out his competitive career at the Tokyo Olympics at age 45, rowing in the men’s quadruple sculls alongside teammates young enough to have been born after his own Olympic debut; the veteran mentor, still on the water, still leading by example.

In 2021, World Rowing honoured Tufte with the Thomas Keller Medal, the sport’s highest individual distinction, awarded for an exceptional international career combined with sportsmanship on and off the water. He received it ahead of a field that included fellow greats Mahe Drysdale and Ekaterina Karsten, a testament to how deeply respected he was among his peers.

The rowing family

Tufte often spoke about rowing not as a series of results but as a lifestyle and a family. He was known for turning single-scull rivals into lifelong friends – he stood as best man at Iztok Cop’s wedding, and Drysdale named his dog “Oslo” in his honour. Younger scullers like Oliver Zeidler sought him out, and were as likely to be handed an axe to split wood on his farm as they were rowing advice.

That same restlessness that made him almost impossible to beat on the water carried into everything else he did. Alongside his rowing, Tufte ran the family farm, worked as a volunteer firefighter, and built businesses including a concrete company, the clothing brand Tufte Wear, and a brewery. “I’m not made for resting,” he once said. “I need to do other stuff otherwise I get bored.”

A legacy that will outlast the record books

Tufte’s medals and titles place him among the greatest scullers the sport has ever produced. But it is the way he carried himself: as a mentor, a friend, a farmer, and a fierce competitor who never stopped showing up, that so many in the rowing community will remember most.

As he put it himself: “I know what I do, I know the rowing family, and I managed to do rowing as a lifestyle, not as a moment.”

Our thoughts are with Olaf’s family, friends, and everyone in the rowing community who was fortunate enough to call him part of theirs.