David Florence is a British slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 1999. He is the 2013 and 2015 world champion in individual single canoe and 2013 champion in double canoe, the latter with Richard Hounslow. Florence was the first canoeist since Charles Dussuet, sixty years earlier, to achieve the C1, C2 double at the same World Championships. Florence won silver medals at three consecutive Olympics: in the C1 in 2008 and in the C2 in 2012 and 2016.
Florence finished 4th in the 2005 European Championships and 15th in the World Championships the same year. He also won a bronze medal in the World Cup event in Seu. In 2006 he improved to a sixth-place finish in the World Championships, won a bronze in the C1 team, and took the gold medal at the World Cup in Augsburg. In 2007 he took 5th place at the World Championships and two World Cup medals, bronzes in Prague and Augsburg. In 2009 he started competing in C2 alongside Richard Hounslow and he won a bronze in the C2 team event at the 2009 World Championships in La Seu d'Urgell. He went on to win a bronze in the C2 event at the 2010 World Championships in Tacen and another one in the C2 team event at the 2011 World Championships in Bratislava. At the 2013 World Championships in Prague he won 2 golds and 1 bronze. He won a silver medal in the C1 team event at the 2017 world championships in Pau. He won a total of eleven medals at the World Championships with three golds, one silver and seven bronzes. In 2009 he won the overall World Cup title in C1. Florence also has seven medals from the European Championships.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, in Beijing, Florence competed in the C1 event. He finished second overall, winning the silver medal behind Slovakworld number oneMichal Martikán. He completed his preliminary runs of the course at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in 89.47 and 82.16 seconds, to lie 3rd overall, with a total time of 171.63 seconds, heading into the semifinal. His semifinal time of 90.46 seconds, qualifying him for the final in 4th place out of the ten advancing competitors. His final run of 88.15 seconds gave him a total time 178.61 seconds and meant he led with only Martikán left to compete, however the Slovakian went almost 2 seconds faster to push Florence into the silver medal position. After the event Florence said he had been inspired by the sight of Rebecca Adlington winning her 400 metres freestyle gold medal the day before.
2012 Olympics
Florence qualified for the C1 event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London at the British trials. Thanks to the fact that his C2 partner Richard Hounslow qualified for the K1 event, they were able to start together in the C2 event as the second British boat in that category. Florence was a favourite to medal especially in the C1 event, but he failed to make the final after a semifinal run full of mistakes. He finished down in 10th place which was a disappointment for him as well as the local fans. He and Hounslow made amends in the C2 event where they were able to win the silver medal behind their compatriots Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott and ahead of the three-time defending champions Pavol and Peter Hochschorner.
World Cup individual podiums
Astronaut application
Before the 2008 Olympics Florence had applied to become an astronaut in the European Space Agency's astronaut training programme in response to an advert he had seen, and was so serious about it that he began learning Russian, a mandatory requirement for the position. However he was not among the four people selected from the 8,400 applicants and received a rejection letter a short time before the start of the Olympics. After winning his Olympic medal he said of the application; "It wasn't a whim... It was an opportunity that came along to apply for something incredible. I tried but didn't get in."
