David Florence sport canoeing and kayaking
Early life
Having been born in Aberdeen, Florence lived in Edinburgh between the ages of 7 and 18 on the same street as future world and Olympic cycling champion Chris Hoy. He attended Roseburn Primary School and Stewarts Melville College secondary school. He began canoeing at the age of 14, on the Water of Leith, and was eventually invited to join the Forth Canoe Club, where most of his training was done on the Union Canal. He went to the University of Nottingham and studied mathematical physics, but says his main reason for choosing to move to Nottingham was because it is the home of the National Watersports Centre. His father, George, is a former Scottish canoeing champion and his brother, Fraser also canoes for Scotland. His Uncle Angus Florence also canoed for Scotland.Career
Florence finished 4th in the 2005 European Championships and 15th in the World Championships the same year. He also won a bronze medal in the World Cup event in Seu. In 2006 he improved to a sixth-place finish in the World Championships, won a bronze in the C1 team, and took the gold medal at the World Cup in Augsburg. In 2007 he took 5th place at the World Championships and two World Cup medals, bronzes in Prague and Augsburg. In 2009 he started competing in C2 alongside Richard Hounslow and he won a bronze in the C2 team event at the 2009 World Championships in La Seu d'Urgell. He went on to win a bronze in the C2 event at the 2010 World Championships in Tacen and another one in the C2 team event at the 2011 World Championships in Bratislava. At the 2013 World Championships in Prague he won 2 golds (C1 and C2) and 1 bronze (C2 team). He won a silver medal in the C1 team event at the 2017 world championships in Pau.
He won a total of eleven medals at the World Championships with three golds, one silver and seven bronzes. In 2009 he won the overall World Cup title in C1. Florence also has seven medals from the European Championships (1 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronzes). He finished three consecutive years as the C1 World No. 1, from 2011 to 2013.
athletics competitive physical activity physical competition