Richard Weiss

Richard Alfred Weiss, known as Rich Weiss, was a West German-born, American slalom kayaker who competed from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. He won a silver medal in the K1 event at the 1993 ICF [Canoe Slalom World Championships] in Mezzana.
Weiss also competed in two Summer Olympics, earning his best finish of sixth in the Canoeing at the [1996 Summer Olympics – Men's slalom K-1|K1 event] in Atlanta in 1996. His finish in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona was mired in controversy when the television replay showed a judge's error cost him a bronze medal.
Weiss was born in Munich, and earned a B.S. in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, an M.S. in Hydrogeology from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He founded and owned an environmental consulting company, Weisswater Associates.
He drowned in a kayaking accident on the White Salmon River in Washington state in 1997. Preparing for a race with a friend, he unsuccessfully attempted to run Big Brother, a Class-V rapid with a 30-foot waterfall. His wife, Rosi, gave birth soon afterwards to a boy whom she named "River". The accidental death of a world-class paddler was the subject of much reflection and soul-searching in the whitewater community. The town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado dedicated a park, with a statue, in his honor.

World Cup individual podiums