Rowing-Norwegian Olympic champion Tufte dead at 50


Norway's Olaf Tufte competes during the men's single sculls quarter-final at the World Rowing Championships in Bled August 31, 2011. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

July 21 (Reuters) - Olympic ⁠rowing champion Olaf Tufte has ⁠died at the age of 50, the ‌Norwegian's family said on Tuesday.

Tufte captured two gold medals, a silver and a bronze during his ​Olympic career that spanned ⁠seven Games from ⁠Atlanta in 1996 to Tokyo in 2021.

He won ⁠the ‌gold in singlesculls in Athens in 2004 and again four ⁠years later in Beijing.

In the Tokyo ​Games, he ‌competed in the quadruple sculls at ⁠the age ​of 45, ending in ninth place. At the World Championships, he won two golds, ⁠one silver, and three ​bronze medals.

He was found unconscious at his family farm on Monday, according to a statement ⁠cited by Norwegian media.

"Medical personnel arrived quickly at the scene and life-saving first aid was initiated before Tufte was ​airlifted to hospital for ⁠further treatment," the statement said.

"There were no ​witnesses to the incident ‌and no suspicion of a ​workplace accident."

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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