Mihai Apostol

Mihai Apostol (born April 28, 1971) is a Canadian sprint canoer who competed from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. Apostol was born in Romania, but defected to Canada with two teammates while attending the 1989 world junior paddling championship in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He was 18 years old at the time. After defecting, Apostol took up residence in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and adapted well to life in Canada by making the Canadian National Kayak team in 1991 and moving from Halifax to Vancouver to join the rest of the team. In Vancouver, supporting himself and without the financial help some of his teammates received from their parents, Mihai worked part-time while attending college (Douglas College, New Westminster BC) and training full-time with the National Team.

Despite moving to Vancouver, Apostol continued to represent Banook Canoe Club at the club level and eventually became a world-class sprint kayaker, excelling especially in shorter sprints. He achieved Canadian citizenship in 1994 making him eligible to compete for Canada at the Olympic Games. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he earned his best finish of seventh in the K-4 1000 m event at Atlanta in 1996.^[1] Apostol dedicated the 90's to the sport and won over 10 National Champion titles in various distances and events. Some of his international highlights are as following : -Gold Medal World Cup Paris France 1994 with Emanuel Auger in K2-200m -Gold medal World Cup Szeged Hungary 1996 in K1-200m -Silver medal World Cup Szeged Hungary 1996 in K4-200m -Gold Medal World Cup Milano Italy 1996 in K4-200 m

Following his retirement as an Olympian in 2003, Mihai competed for several years with the Dragon Boat East dragon boat club. He also competed at the 2012 Canadian Masters Nationals sprint canoe-kayak championships, where he obtained four gold medals in various events.

Apostol now resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his wife and two kids.

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