Bridgitte Ellen Hartley (born 14 July 1983) is a South African canoe sprinter who has competed since the late 2000s. She won a bronze medal in the K-1 1000 m event at the 2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Dartmouth. Three years later, at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Bridgitte again won the bronze medal, this time in the K-1 (Kayak Singles – Women) 500m event. In August 2014, she replicated her Olympic form, and at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow she picked up a third career bronze model in international competition.[1] Hartley became the first person from both South Africa and the African continent to medal at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. Hartley also competed in the K-2 500 m event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but was eliminated in the semifinals.[1]

Bridgitte Hartley
Personal information
NationalitySouth African
Born (1983-07-14) 14 July 1983 (age 41)
Sandton, South Africa
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
CountrySouth Africa
SportCanoe sprint
ClubNatal Canoe Club
Medal record
Women's canoe sprint
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London K-1 500m
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Dartmouth K-1 1000 m
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Moscow K-1 500 m
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Montemor-o-Velho K-1 1000 m
All-Africa Games
Gold medal – first place 2011 Maputo K-1 200m
Gold medal – first place 2011 Maputo K-1 500m
Gold medal – first place 2011 Maputo K-2 500m
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Rabat K-2 200 m
Gold medal – first place 2019 Rabat K-2 500 m

Hartley competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the women's K-1 200 m event, she finished in 13th place.[2] In the women's K-1 500 m event, she finished in 16th place.[3]

In February 2022, she was elected as chair of the International Canoe Federation's (ICF) Athlete Committee.[4]

Early life

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Hartley was born in Sandton, a suburb of Johannesburg. Her family moved to Richards Bay in her youth, where she took up surfing.[5] She attended Pretoria High School for Girls where she excelled at sports.[5] After high school, Hartley attended the University of Pretoria.[5]

Affiliations

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bridgitte Hartley". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  4. ^ Burke, Patrick (12 February 2022). "Hartley elected to chair ICF Athlete Committee". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Macleod, Dave (23 May 2020). "Hartley reflects on 15 years of competing". Cape Town, South Africa: Sports24 (a division of Media24 Proprietary Limited). Archived from the original on 1 August 2020.
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