Karolien Florijn

Karolien Florijn was born on April 6, 1998, in Leiden, Netherlands. She comes from a family with a strong rowing background, with both her father, Ronald Florijn, and mother, Antje Rehaag, being Olympic rowers. Her father won Olympic gold in the men’s double sculls at the 1988 Summer Olympics and in the men’s eight at the 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as four World Championship medals. Her mother was a former Olympic rower and 1994 world champion in the German women’s eight. Karolien also has two younger brothers, Finn and Beer, who are involved in rowing; Finn also became an Olympic gold medalist at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics in the men’s quadruple sculls.

Florijn began her international career contributing to team boats, earning a silver medal at the 2017 European Rowing Championships in the Women’s eight. She collected her first World Championship medal, a bronze, in the women’s quadruple sculls at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv. In 2019, she joined the Dutch coxless four, and this crew quickly achieved significant success, winning gold at the European Championships in Lucerne (2019), Poznań (2020), and Varese (2021). During this period, the coxless four also secured a silver medal at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and an Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

In 2022, Florijn transitioned to single sculls, where she continued her winning streak. In her first year competing in the single sculls, she won the overall World Rowing Cup trophy and clinched a gold medal at the European Championships in Munich. She further solidified her dominance in the discipline by winning gold at the 2022 and 2023 World Rowing Championships in the women’s single sculls. Her career culminated with an Olympic gold medal in the single sculls event at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, making her a highly esteemed figure in international rowing.