Vyacheslav Ivanov
Ekaterina Karsten
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Ekaterina Karsten leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Vyacheslav Ivanov at #7 and Ekaterina Karsten at #9.
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The case for Vyacheslav Ivanov
The first man to win three consecutive Olympic single-scull golds, in 1956, 1960 and 1964. World Championships were not there for the start of the run. The achievement is the Olympic one, and it is the template Karppinen later matched. Ivanov sits just behind him here because the later streak came against a deeper international field and a settled 2,000-metre championship. That is a judgement about eras, and it is open to the opposite reading: Ivanov did it first.
The case for Ekaterina Karsten
Two Olympic golds in the women's single, at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, then silver in 2004 and 2008 and bronze in 2012. Five Olympic medals in the event that offers nowhere to hide. The golds are fewer than Boron's or Lipă's. The years on the podium are the argument: five Games, five medals, in the single. A list that only promotes undefeated crews underrates a sculler who stayed in the medals while the rest of the field changed.