Canadian Olympic Team Official Website

Jake Wetzel

TotalShares

Born: 12/26/1976

Birthplace: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Hometown: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Jake Wetzel is a three-time Olympian who won gold as a member of the men’s eight at Beijing 2008. Four years earlier he had won silver with the coxless four. That came after he had made his Olympic debut at Sydney 2000 with the American team, where he finished seventh in the quad sculls. Wetzel won three world titles in his career: 1999 coxed four (for the United States), 2003 coxless four and 2007 eight.

Beijing 2008 Men’s Eight

The Canadian men’s eight went into the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing confident, dominant and expected to win gold.

Coached by Mike Spracklen, the crew of Kevin Light, Ben Rutledge, Andrew Byrnes, Jake Wetzel, Malcolm Howard, Dominic Seiterle, Adam Kreek , Kyle Hamilton and coxswain Brian Price had consistently proven to be the best, winning the 2007 World Championship title as well as back-to-back editions of the prestigious Lucerne World Cup in 2007 and 2008.

Once in Beijing, the team was described as “swaggering around” by six-time Olympic medallist Steven Redgrave, who was commentating for the BBC. That swagger was well deserved, as they won their heat by more than seven seconds.

In the final, the Canadians jumped out quickly and at the 500m mark had a quarter of a boat length lead. They continued to blow away the field, extending the lead to a full boat length at the midway point. Then it was just a matter of holding off a late charge by Great Britain and the United States to claim the gold medal.

It was a victory that inspired Canadians, particularly the lasting image of the crew singing ‘O Canada’ loudly and proudly on the dock. It prompted triathlete Simon Whitfield to tape the words ‘Sing Like Kreek’ to the handlebars of his bike during his race to the silver medal in Beijing.

History will be made in 2016 when Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hosts the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, marking the first time that a South American country will welcome the world to an Olympic Games. It is also just the third time that the Games will be held in the southern hemisphere, following Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000.