He won a total of 59 medals
Olympic champion ends his career
05.07.2025 – 10:51 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Sebastian Brendel won 59 medals in his successful career. Now the Olympic champion is breaking up.
His successes have shaped canal racing for years – now it is over: Sebastian Brendel has officially ended his career as a competitive athlete. At a club event of the KC Potsdam on Friday evening, the triple Olympic champion announced his retreat.
A few hours later, Brendel published personal news on Instagram. He was “incredibly grateful for a really great time as a athlete” and will never forget the experiences of his 25 years in competitive sports. It was a “horny time”, emphasized the 13-time world champion.
The 37-year-old was part of the world top over the years in a Canadian over 1,000 meters. His strong final sprint in particular made him almost unbeatable. Brendel won 59 medals – including 33 in gold. He celebrated his greatest success at the Olympic Games: Gold 2012 in London, Double Gold 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and Bronze 2021 in Tokyo. There were also 13 World Cup titles and 17 EM successes.
Brendel’s long -time coach Ralph Welke found clear words for the importance of his protégé: you get an athlete “only once in life”. After the double triumph in Rio, Brendel wore the German flag at the closing ceremony. He had his last international effort in the summer of 2024 at the Olympic Games in Paris, where he stayed without a medal in a Canadian final.
Brendel will nevertheless remain connected to the sport: he takes over a coaching role in the youth area of his club KC Potsdam. “Even if I will no longer be on the starting line myself, I will continue to receive sport and I am looking forward to the tasks that come,” he said.
In addition, Brendel begins his service to the federal police in Potsdam in autumn. There it is used in the area of training and further training- including in top sports funding.