Awarded to the winner of the Men’s K-2 Senior 1000m

In 1988, at the Seoul Olympics Greg Barton and Norman Bellingham were the United States representatives to race the men’s K-2 1000m race. At the time both men had already established themselves as top tier racers on the international paddling circuit. Greg had earned a Bronze medal at
the previous Olympics in LA in 1984 and Norman had won gold in the Pan American Championships in K-1 500m and K-2 1000m. The US Men’s kayak coach, Pawel Podgorski thought that the combination of Greg’s endurance skills and Norman’s raw strength would make a formidable team.

However, in 1988 Greg was also the fastest paddler in the world in K-1 events and when the Olympic race schedule was published there was a concern. The K-1 1000m event was raced first but on the same day and only 90mins later the K-2 1000m event was scheduled. Coach Podgorski, Greg and Norman decided to go for both races anyway. They hatched a clever plan that after Greg’s K-1 race he would leave his K-1 at the weigh-in dock and climb into a K-2 with Norman to do his warm down. Greg’s warm down after the K-1 would serve the dual purpose as Norman’s warm up for the K-2 race that was soon to come. The plan worked and the US K-2 team of Barton & Bellingham were Olympic champions by less than ½ of a second.

This trophy is an acknowledgment of that tremendous athletic achievement and congratulations to the US National team that wins it annually and was envisioned, designed, and created by Steve Kelly.

YEAR	AWARDED TO
2025	Karl Sorocco, Colin McMullen