James Andrew Byrnes is a Canadian rower and Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 gold medalist. He was born in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 and raised in Ithaca, New York

Ithaca, New York

The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...

. Byrnes is a 2005 graduate of Bates College

Bates College

Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...

 in Maine, where he rowed for the Bates Rowing Team.

He has won three World Rowing Championships

World Rowing Championships

The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA . It is a week long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the international rowing calendar.The first event was held in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1962...

 medals, a bronze in 2006 in the men's coxed pairs with Derek O'Farrell and Brian Price; and a gold in 2007 in the men's eights and a silver in 2009 in Poznan, Poland in the men's eight.

He won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in the men's eights with Ben Rutledge

Ben Rutledge

Ben Rutledge is a Canadian Olympic rower.In Seville, Spain 2002 he was a member of the first ever Canadian Men's 8+ crew to win a Gold Medal at a World Championship regatta...

, Kyle Hamilton, Malcolm Howard

Malcolm Howard (rower)

Malcolm Howard is a Canadian rower. He was born in Victoria, British Columbia and graduated from Brentwood College School in 2001....

, Adam Kreek

Adam Kreek

Adam Kreek is a Canadian rower. Born in London, Ontario, he was a student at the University of Victoria where he met his wife Rebecca. He won the gold medal at both the 2003 and 2002 world championships for Canada's men's eight team in Milan, Italy and Seville, Spain respectively...

, Kevin Light

Kevin Light

Kevin Richard Light is a Canadian rower. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia but has lived in Victoria, British Columbia since 1985. He began rowing at Stelly's High School in grade 12 and graduating in 1997...

, Dominic Sieterle, Jake Wetzel

Jake Wetzel

Jacob Wetzel is a Canadian rower. He has represented both Canada and the United States at the World Championships and the Olympics. He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.- College years :...

 and cox Brian Price.

External links

• Profile at Rowing Canada