View source for Thomas Hall (canoeist)

{{MedalTableTop}}
{{MedalCountry|{{CAN}}}}
{{MedalSport|Men's [[Canoe racing|canoe sprint]]}}
{{MedalOlympic}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Beijing]]|[[Canoeing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's C-1 1000 metres|C-1 1000 m]]}}
{{MedalWorldChampionships}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2006 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships|2006 Szeged]]|C-4 1000 m}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Pan American Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2003 Pan American Games|2003 Santo Domingo]]|C-1 1000m}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2003 Pan American Games|2003 Santo Domingo]]|C-2 500m}}
{{MedalBottom}}

'''Thomas Hall''' (born February 21, 1982) is an [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] [[canoe racing|sprint canoeist]] from [[Pointe Claire, Quebec]], Canada. Training with the [[Pointe-Claire Canoe Club]], he began his international career in 1999, winning a gold medal in the C-1 1000 m event at the Junior World Championships. By the time of the [[2008 Summer Olympics]], he had made a total of 44 top three finishes in international canoeing competitions, including 14 wins. Among these were a gold and a bronze medal at the [[2003 Pan American Games]]. At the Beijing [[Olympic Games]], he won a bronze medal in the [[Canoeing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's C-1 1000 metres|Men's C-1 1000 metres]] event.

==Early life and biography==
Born in [[Montreal]], he grew up in suburban Pointe-Claire. His mother had competed in the North American [[kayak]] championships. His sister is a competitive kayaker as well, while his brother James is a musician in The [[Sam Roberts (singer-songwriter)|Sam Roberts]] Band.<ref name="James">{{cite news|last = Schaults|first = Janine|title = Interview: Sam Roberts Band|publisher = Illinois Entertainer|date = 2011-05-31|url = http://illinoisentertainer.com/2011/05/interview-sam-roberts-band/|accessdate = 2012-10-05}}</ref> For Thomas [[Steve Giles]], [[Attila Buday]] [[Tamas Buday Jr.]] and Andreas Dittmer are among his role models. He also claims that [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] was a "key influence" for him growing up and he re-read ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' every year for a number of years.<ref name="CKProfile">{{cite news|title = Thomas Hall|work = Athlete Profiles|publisher = CanoeKayakCanada|year = 2012|url = http://canoekayak.ca/english/athlete/show/12|accessdate = 2012-10-05|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120111221939/http://www.canoekayak.ca/english/athlete/show/12|archivedate = 2012-01-11}}</ref> As of 2008, he was a physical education student at [[McGill University]] and, as of 2011 he was studying business at [[Mount Saint Vincent University]] in [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]], although still living in Montreal.

==International competition==
After joining the Pointe Claire Canoe Club, his first major international victory was the Junior World Championships in August 1999 in [[Zagreb]], [[Croatia]], where he placed first in the C-1 1000 m event. Earlier that month he had placed fifth in the C-1 20&nbsp;km event at the Marathon Junior Cup in [[Hungary]].<ref name="CKProfile"/> Beginning in 2000 Hall began competing in an increasing amount of international tournaments. In June 2000, at the Bochum International Regatta in [[Bochum]], Germany, he took second, third and fifth place in the junior C-2 1000 m, C-4 500 m and C-1 1000 m events respectively. In August of that year, he finished second in the junior C-1 1000 m event at the Pan American Sprint Canoe Championships in [[Lake Placid, New York]].<ref name="CKProfile"/>

Beginning with a first-place finish in the C-4 1000 m event at the World Cup in Paris, France, he acquired a total of six medals over the course of 2001, including first in the C-1 JrM 1000 m event at Canadian Sprint Canoe Championships in [[Lac-Beauport, Quebec]]. In August 2002, he had a second-place finish in the C-4 1000 m event at the same tournament in [[Minnedosa, Manitoba]]. That same year, he also took third place in the junior C-1 500 m event at the Pan American Sprint Canoe Championships in Lake Placid, and in the C-2 1000 m event at the Pan American Canoe Championships in [[Curitiba]], [[Brazil]]. In August 2003, he came in first in the C-1 1000 m event and third in the C-1 500 m event at the [[2003 Pan American Games|Pan American Games]] that were held in [[Santo Domingo]], [[Dominican Republic]].<ref name="CKProfile"/>

After a third-place finish at the Canadian Olympic Trials in Montreal, he earned seven additional top three finishes in 2004, including wins in the C-4 1000 m event at the World Cup in [[Račice (Litoměřice District)|Račice]], Czech Republic and the Junior C-1 500 m event at the Canadian Championships in [[Dartmouth, Nova Scotia]]. In 2005, he placed first in the C-1 500 m event and second in the C-1 1000 m national team selection trials in Montreal. At that year's Canadian Championships, also held in Montreal, he placed second in the C-1 1000 m event. In 2006, he placed second and third in the C-1 500 m and C-1 1000 m events respectively at the National Team Trials in [[Lake Lanier]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. That year, at the [[International Canoe Federation|ICF]] World Cup in [[Duisburg]], Germany, he placed first in the C-1 4 × 200 m event and ended the year with a second-place finish in the C-4 1000 m event at the [[2006 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships|Senior World Championships]] in [[Szeged]], Hungary.<ref name="CKProfile"/>

After five international top three finishes in 2007, he acquired an additional eight top three finishes in 2008 before the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in Beijing. Included among these were first-place finishes in events at the Continental Olympic Qualifier and the National Team Trials in Montreal and the IFC World Cup in Duisburg and [[Poznań]], Poland.<ref name="CKProfile"/> The win in Poland solidified his winning of the 2008 overall World Cup Champion in the Canoe Discipline. He is the first Canadian to win this title. He then went on to win a bronze medal in the [[Canoeing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's C-1 1000 metres|C-1 1000 m]] event at the [[Olympic Games]] in the [[Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park]], finishing half a second ahead of [[Vadim Menkov]] of [[Uzbekistan]] with a time of 3:53.653, but behind [[Attila Vajda]] of Hungary and [[David Cal]] of Spain.<ref name="Sports Reference">{{cite web|last = Gjerde|first = Arild|author2=Jeroen Heijmans |author3=Bill Mallon |author4=Hilary Evans |title = Thomas Hall Biography and Olympic Results|work = Olympics|publisher = Sports Reference.com|year = 2012|url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ha/thomas-hall-1.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200418035155/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ha/thomas-hall-1.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2020-04-18|accessdate = 2012-10-05}}</ref> He credited his victory to "a sea change in [...] life"<ref name="National">{{cite news|last = Vanstone|first = Rob|title = Hall takes bronze in solo canoe|work = News|publisher = [[National Post]]|date = 2008-08-22|url = https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=741695|accessdate = 2008-08-22}}</ref> beginning in January, as well as a closer bond with his coach, [[Michael Creamer (coach)|Michael Creamer]].<ref name="National"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105013709/http://canoeicf.com/site/canoeint/if/downloads/result/Pages%201-41%20from%20Medal%20Winners%20ICF%20updated%202007-2.pdf?MenuID=Results%2F1107%2F0%2CMedal%5Fwinners%5Fsince%5F1936%2F1510%2F0 |date=2010-01-05 |title=ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936–2007}}
*{{Webarchive |url=https://www.webcitation.org/5l9vPO85Y?url=http://www.canoeicf.com/site/canoeint/if/downloads/result/Pages%2042-83%20from%20Medal%20Winners%20ICF%20updated%202007.pdf?MenuID=Results%2F1107%2F0%2CMedal%5Fwinners%5Fsince%5F1936%2F1510%2F0 |date=2009-11-09 |title=ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Thomas}}
[[Category:1982 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian male canoeists]]
[[Category:Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:McGill University Faculty of Education alumni]]
[[Category:Olympic canoeists for Canada]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Canada]]
[[Category:Anglophone Quebec people]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Pointe-Claire]]
[[Category:Canoeists from Montreal]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in canoeing]]
[[Category:ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists in canoeing]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists in canoeing]]
[[Category:Canoeists at the 2003 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian sportsmen]]