About Jüri Jaanson
Jüri Jaanson (born 14 October 1965) is the most successful Estonian rower of all time and the winner of five medals at World Rowing Championships. == Biography == Jaanson was born in Tartu, and had to overcome a particularly challenging childhood, brought on by a severe case of pneumonia at the age of 2. Doctors gave antibiotics which saved him, but which also left him almost completely deaf. He attended a school for the deaf until he obtained a primitive hearing aid at the age of 12, allowing him to attend a regular school. Still, being a loner, he struggled with fitting in. At Tartu University, when a coach introduced him to rowing, he took to it so passionately that he left university to focus on rowing. He wears hearing aids on a regular basis and was also seen wearing them during his rowing competitions. He became World Champion in Tasmania 1990 in the single sculls event. In 1995, he won the Diamond Challenge Sculls (the premier singles sculls event) at the Henley Royal Regatta, rowing for the Parnu Rowing Club. In 2004 at age 38, he won an Olympic silver medal in the single sculls event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.