Subject: Silken Laumann (Female)
Sport: Canadian Olympic Rower
Studied From: 1992-1996
Performance Enhancing Drug: Pseudoephedrine/ Ephedrine
Born November 14, 1964 in Mississauga Ontario, Silken Laumann and her sisters' Career started out on the track and field circuit. When the Laumann sisters switched over to the sport of Rowing, their career into the National Team was short and powerful. They succeeded with fast rates, adding promise to the national team in the coming Olympic years with their strong muscle performance and outstanding results. When Silken’s sister retired early to start a different life, Silken pushed on without her, practicing in the single and quadruple sculls.
Unfortunately for Silken Laumann, tragedy struck in May, 1992, 10 weeks before the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. Laumann was involved in a brutal rowing accident where she and another “sculler” collided with an impact that drove the splashboard right into her lower left leg. “The muscles on the outside of my right leg were peeled back and hanging down to the ankle … the doctors thought I would never row again.” Silken had said. She sustained an open tibia fracture with concurrent nerve damage and lost a sufficient amount of skin and soft tissue that permanently weakened her left leg. It was a brutal heartbreak for Laumann, who had made the immediate decision to not give up so quickly.
Remarkably enough, 27 days later, with 5 operations and countless hours of rehabilitation, Laumann sat back in her shell for the very first time and began her continued training for the Olympics that were now just around the corner.
On August 2nd, 1992, Silken made the biggest comeback in Canadian Sports History, taking home a bronze medal for Canada that shed light into the hearts of other athletes struggling to achieve their dreams.
An international star known all over the world, Canada was proud to be represented by Silken Laumann as she continued her training for up and coming international competitions. Such as the World Championships, the Pan Am Games in 1995 and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Another downfall for Silken struck on Wednesday March 23, 1995 during her competition at the Pan Am Games. She yet again astonished the world when she won a gold medal in the single sculling and another gold medal in the quadruple sculling. Laumann was one of the greatest rowers until the world, that is, until she drug tested positive. Silken Laumann has tested positive for Ephedrine/ Pseudoephedrine right after her competition at the Pan American Games. For that, she and her team of 4 were stripped of their Gold Medals, a massive shock to all who witnessed.
Olympic officials stated that never has a Female Canadian Rower tested positive for a banned substance. The likelihood is that the drug was inadvertently taken by the athlete who was suffering from a cold and in need of some medicine before her big competition. But all in all, Silken was not given back her Medals and was sent back home with her head hanging in shame.
Although she was stripped of two of some of the greatest things that have ever happened to her, the determination never left her bones and she hit the water again with all necessary force. She made an immediate comeback the following year for the 1996 Atlanta games winning a Silver Medal for Canada, proving that she deserved to be there just as much as any other athlete.
All in all, no matter what downfall or uprising Silken had to push through, the road to the top is never and has never been easy, and Silken Laumann charged the mountain with all force and determination. This is why despite her run in with Ephedrine and the law, she is considered one of the greatest and most well known retired rowers of all time.
