Benjamin Savšek

Benjamin Savšek (born 24 March 1987)^[1] is a Slovenian slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2002, specializing in the C1 discipline. With an Olympic gold, 2 individual world titles and 4 individual European titles, he is one of the most successful C1 paddlers of his generation.

Benjamin Savšek

Savšek in 2023
Personal information
Nationality	Slovenian
Born	(1987-03-24) 24 March 1987 (age 38) Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
Country	Slovenia
Sport	Canoe slalom
Event	C1
Club	KKK Tacen
Medal record Men's canoe slalom Representing  Slovenia Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 0 World Championships 3 3 4 European Championships 7 1 4 U23 European Championships 1 2 1 Total 12 6 9 Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo C1 World Championships 2017 Pau C1 2022 Augsburg C1 team 2023 London C1 2014 Deep Creek Lake C1 2015 London C1 2018 Rio de Janeiro C1 team 2013 Prague C1 2014 Deep Creek Lake C1 team 2015 London C1 team 2025 Penrith C1 team European Championships 2014 Vienna C1 team 2015 Markkleeberg C1 2019 Pau C1 2019 Pau C1 team 2020 Prague C1 2020 Prague C1 team 2022 Liptovský Mikuláš C1 2024 Tacen C1 team 2017 Tacen C1 team 2025 Vaires-sur-Marne C1 team 2012 Augsburg C1 2013 Kraków C1 team 2021 Ivrea C1 team 2024 Tacen C1 U23 European Championships 2009 Liptovský Mikuláš C1 team 2006 Nottingham C1 team 2010 Markkleeberg C1 team 2008 Solkan C1

Savšek competed at four Olympic Games. His first appearance was at the 2012 Summer Olympics where he finished in 8th place in the C1 event.^[2] He finished in 6th place in the same event four years later at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo he won gold in the C1 event after completing a clean run in the final.^[3] He also competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, finishing 11th in the C1 event and 12th in kayak cross.

Savšek won ten medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships including 5 individual medals. He won gold in the C1 event in 2017 in Pau and then again in 2023 in London. He also has two silvers (2014 and 2015) and a bronze (2013). The other five medals came from the C1 team events as part of the Slovenian team. These include a gold in 2022, a silver in 2018 and three bronzes in 2014, 2015 and 2025.^[4]

Savšek also won 14 medals at the European Canoe Slalom Championships (8 golds, 2 silver and 4 bronzes). Six of these medals are individual (4 golds and 2 bronzes).^[4]

Savšek has also had success in the World Cup where he has collected 5 victories and 19 podiums as of 2023. He is yet to win the overall title, however, finishing in the runner-up position of 4 occasions (2009, 2015, 2017 and 2021). He finished in the top ten of the overall standings every year from 2009 to 2023 (with the exception of the 2020 season when there were no World Cup final rankings due to the COVID-19 pandemic).^[4]

Savšek was the year-end World No. 1 in C1 event in 2015 and 2022.^[5]

Career statistics

Major championships results timeline

Event		2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Olympic Games	C1	—	Not held			8	Not held			6	Not held				1	Not held		11	Not held
	Kayak cross	Not held																12	Not held
World Championships	C1	Not held	19	7	17	Not held	3	2	2	Not held	1	7	18	Not held	9	4	1	Not held	9
	C1 team	Not held	4	5	12	Not held	4	3	3	Not held	5	2	6	Not held	5	1	4	Not held	3
European Championships	C1	18	10	6	13	3	27	6	1	12	4	11	1	1	6	1	6[a]	3	11
	C1 team	6	6	6	8	5	3	1	9	9	2	5	1	1	3	10	8[a]	1	2

1. 2023 European Games

World Cup individual podiums

				Total
C1	6	6	9	21

Season	Date	Venue	Position	Event
2009	3 August 2009	Kananaskis	2nd	C11
2010	19 June 2010	Prague	2nd	C1
2012	25 August 2012	Prague	1st	C1
2014	14 June 2014	Tacen	1st	C1
	21 June 2014	Prague	3rd	C1
2015	20 June 2015	Prague	2nd	C1
	27 June 2015	Kraków	3rd	C1
	8 August 2015	La Seu d'Urgell	3rd	C1
2016	3 September 2016	Prague	3rd	C1
	10 September 2016	Tacen	1st	C1
2017	10 September 2017	La Seu d'Urgell	1st	C1
2021	13 June 2021	Prague	3rd	C1
	20 June 2021	Markkleeberg	3rd	C1
	12 September 2021	Pau	2nd	C1
2022	19 June 2022	Kraków	2nd	C1
	26 June 2022	Tacen	3rd	C1
	28 August 2022	Pau	3rd	C1
2023	10 June 2023	Prague	1st	C1
	16 June 2023	Tacen	3rd	C1
2024	8 June 2024	Prague	2nd	C1
	14 September 2024	Ivrea	1st	C1

¹ Pan American Championship counting for World Cup points