Justin Best : Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Justin Best

American rower (born 1997)

Justin Best

Personal information

Born

(1997-08-17) August 17, 1997 (age 26)
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, U.S.^[1]

Education

Drexel University^[2]

Height

1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)

Sport

Rowing

Medal record

Men's rowing

Representing United States
Olympic Games
	2024 Paris	Coxless four
World Championships
	2023 Belgrade	Coxless four
World U23 Championships
	2018 Poznań	Eight
	2019 Sarasota	Eight
World Junior Championships
	2015 Rio de Janeiro	Eight

Justin Best (born August 17, 1997) is an American rower. He competed in the men's eight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[3]^[4] At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Best won a gold medal in the men's coxless four.^[5]

When he was in middle school, Best suffered a concussion playing football that caused him to reconsider his athletic activities. After seeing The Social Network, his parents were inspired by the Harvard rowing team scenes and he started rowing for the Newport Rowing Club in Newport, Delaware.^[6] He continued rowing while at Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania,^[7] where he was part of an effort to petition the local school board to add rowing as a club sport.^[8] In 2015, he was part of the men's eight that won a silver medal at the World Rowing Junior Championships.^[9]

Best attended Drexel University, where he studied business and engineering. While competing for the Drexel Dragons, they won the Dad Vail Regatta team title all four years.^[7] During his time at Drexel he also competed for the US National U23 squad in 2018 and 2019.^[8] After graduating from Drexel, he worked as an analyst at investment bank Union Square Advisors.^[10]

References

^ "Justin Best". Team USA. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
^ "Drexel's Justin Best Named to Olympic Team". Drexel Dragons. Drexel University. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
^ "Justin Best". Olympedia. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
^ "Rowing - Heat 1 Results". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
^ Shinn, Peggy (August 1, 2024). "In Rowing, Men's Four Wins First Olympic Gold Medal Since 1960". Team USA. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
^ Tresolini, Kevin (July 14, 2021) [Originally published June 23, 2021]. "Delaware native's unlikely journey to berth on U.S. Olympic rowing team". The News Journal. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Justin Best". Drexel University.
^ ^a ^b Hoffman, Steven (June 28, 2021). "Justin Best, a UHS graduate, earns spot on the U. S. Olympic Rowing Team". Chester County Press.
^ "World Rowing - 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships".
^ "Justin Best - Junior Analyst". Union Square Advisors. Retrieved August 8, 2022.