IVAN PATZAICHIN - Romanian sprint canoer

IVAN PATZAICHIN (born 26 November 1949) is a Romanian sprint canoer who competed from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s.

Ivan Patzaichin won 13 canoeing titles at the Olympic Games and World Championships.

Patzaichin competed at five Olympic Games, from 1968 through 1984, representing the Dinamo Bucharest club for Romania. His Olympic titles were the C2-1000 in 1968, the C1-1000 in 1972, the C2-1000 in 1980 and the C2-1000 in 1984. His World Championships were at C2-500 in 1979, C2-1000 in 1970, 1973, and 1981, the C1-1000 in 1977 and the C1-10K in 1978.

Born in Mila 23, Tulcea County, to a Russian Lipovan family, he was a member of the Dinamo Bucharest canoe club. When he retired, Patzaichin became a coach and is now head of the Romanian national team, known as Amiralul ("The Admiral"). His pupils, including Olympic champion Florin Popescu, have won over one hundred sprint canoe titles.