Jakub Grigar
Jakub Grigar during the 2019 Canoe slalom World Championships
Personal information
NationalitySlovak
Born (1997-04-27) 27 April 1997
Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight81 kg (179 lb)
Sport
CountrySlovakia
SportCanoe slalom
EventK1, Kayak cross
ClubDukla Liptovský Mikuláš
Medal record
Men's canoe slalom
Representing  Slovakia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2020 TokyoK1
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2015 LondonK1 team
Silver medal – second place2021 BratislavaK1 team
Youth Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2014 NanjingK1
U23 World Championships
Gold medal – first place2016 KrakówK1
Gold medal – first place2017 BratislavaK1
Silver medal – second place2016 KrakówK1 team
U23 European Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 Liptovský MikulášK1
Silver medal – second place2018 BratislavaK1
Silver medal – second place2018 BratislavaK1 team
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place2013 Liptovský MikulášK1
Gold medal – first place2015 Foz do IguaçuK1
Silver medal – second place2013 Liptovský MikulášK1 team
Bronze medal – third place2012 WausauK1
Bronze medal – third place2014 PenrithK1
Junior European Championships
Gold medal – first place2013 Bourg-Saint-MauriceK1
Gold medal – first place2015 KrakówK1 team

Jakub Grigar (born 27 April 1997) is a Slovak slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2012.[1][2] He specializes in the K1 discipline and occasionally competes in kayak cross.

Grigar competed at two Olympic Games. He finished 5th in the K1 event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and won the silver medal in the K1 event at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

He also won two silver medals in the K1 team event at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, earning them in 2015 and 2021.

Career

Junior

Grigar first appeared at major junior events in 2012 (at age 15) and immediately had success, winning bronze in the K1 event at the World Junior Championships in Wausau. In four World Junior Championships he never finished outside of medals in the individual K1 event, winning 2 golds and 2 bronzes. He also won the K1 title at the 2013 European Championship and a silver at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, which was raced on flatwater.

Grigar credits two-time Olympic Champion Elena Kaliská with helping him in his early years and showing him that canoe slalom is fun.[3]

Under 23

Grigar moved into the U23 category in 2016 as he aged out of the juniors and immediately won gold at the 2016 World Championships in the K1 event. He was able to defend that title one year later in Bratislava. He won another gold and silver medal in the K1 event at the European U23 Championships in 2019 and 2018 respectively.

Senior

Grigar first qualified for the senior national team at the age of 16 in 2013, while still a junior. He made his debut at a major championship at the 2013 European Championships in Kraków where he finished 21st in K1 and 4th in the K1 team event. He also made his first appearance at the World Senior Championships later that year.

He won his first senior medal in 2015 in the K1 team event at the World Championships alongside Martin Halčin and Andrej Málek. His first individual medal came a year later at the World Cup in La Seu d'Urgell, where he finished second only to Vít Přindiš.

He qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, beating his more experienced teammates Halčin and Málek in the internal qualification. Having finished 4th in the heats and then winning the semifinal run, he was the last man to start in the final. He led at the final split in the final run, but then lost time on the last couple of gates and ultimately missed out on the gold medal by 0.90 seconds, finishing in 5th place.[3]

The Olympic season was followed by three years (2017-2019) where his results had dropped off at the senior level as he was unable to get on the podium in any of the major events (World Championships, World Cups, European Championships). He skipped the entire 2020 season along with the whole Slovak national team due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

2021 was a return to form for Grigar. He claimed his maiden World Cup victory in Markkleeberg in June, en route to a silver medal at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He was also part of the silver medal winning K1 team at the 2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with Martin Halčin and Adam Gonšenica.

In the following season he won a bronze medal at the World Cup in Tacen and just missed out on a medal at the 2022 World Championships, where he finished 4th in the K1 event.

2023 did not yield any medals for Grigar, but he did manage to qualify for his third Olympics, beating Martin Halčin by a single point in the internal qualification.[5]

Career statistics

Major championships results timeline

Event 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Olympic Games K1 Not held 5 Not held 2 Not held
World Championships K1 50 — 41 Not held 16 17 10 Not held 7 4 19
Kayak cross Not held — — — Not held 10 51 76
K1 team 17 — 2 Not held 8 15 24 Not held 2 5 5
European Championships K1 21 — 39 5 8 28 33 — 34 12 6[lower-alpha 1]
Kayak cross Not held — 4 51[lower-alpha 1]
K1 team 4 — 4 8 12 7 12 — 5 4 9[lower-alpha 1]
  1. 1 2 3 2023 European Games

World Cup individual podiums

Season Date Venue Position Event
201611 Jun 2016La Seu d'Urgell2ndK1
202119 Jun 2021Markkleeberg1stK1
202225 June 2022Tacen3rdK1

References

  1. ↑ "Jakub Grigar". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Jakub GRIGAR (SVK)". CanoeSlalom.net. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Jakub Grigar OLY". Olympic.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  4. ↑ "Reprezentačná sezóna 2020 prerušená". canoe.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  5. ↑ "Zuzana Paňková a Jakub Grigar uzavreli olympijský štvorlístok na divokej vode". Canoe.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 27 October 2023.
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