Canadian Olympic gold medalist Adam van Koeverden of Oakville, Ontario is now a member of parliament. On Monday in the Canadian federal election, van Koeverden won the riding of Milton, Ontario in an upset as he defeated Conservative Party deputy leader Lisa Raitt.
van Koeverden won a gold medal for Canada in the men’s 500 metre kayaking at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.He would win three more Olympic medals–a bronze medal in the men’s 1000 metre kayaking at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, a silver medal in the men’s 500 metre kayaking at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and a silver medal in the men’s 1000 metre kayaking at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Now Canada’s best canoer of all time has made the successful transition into politics. He is part of a Liberal Party that currently has a minority government. van Koeverden is one of 157 members of parliament that are Liberal.
The fact that van Koeverden beat Raitt is significant. It will now be interesting to see what Raitt’s political future will be like as she was considered a top politician within the Conservative Party and even was considered a strong candidate to become the leader of the Conservatives two years ago, when she lost to Andrew Scheer.
