Olympic rowing legend Olaf Tufte has died aged 50 after an astonishing career which saw him win two gold medals and compete in seven Summer Games. He was found unconscious at his family farm and transported to a hospital in Oslo, where he died, according to Norwegian media.Tufte, who took gold in the single sculls in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, is survived by his wife and two children. He also claimed silver in the double sculls at Sydney in 2000 and a bronze in the same event at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Store said: ‘Tufte brought immense joy through sport to us as a nation.’He was one of Norway’s greatest sporting heroes, a decorated Summer Olympian, one of the finest rowers we have ever had, and a great role model to many.’ World Rowing added: ‘He closed out his competitive career at the Tokyo Olympics at age 45, rowing in the men’s quadruple sculls alongside teammates young enough to have been born after his own Olympic debut. The veteran mentor, still on the water, still leading by example.’Alongside his rowing, Tufte ran the family farm, worked as a volunteer firefighter, and built businesses including a concrete company, the clothing brand Tufte Wear and a brewery.’ Tufte’s Olympic career spanned from the 1996 Games in Atlanta to the 2021 edition in Tokyo. But he wasn’t done there. After hanging up his sculls, Tufte went into coaching for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris and helped Birgit Skarstein to a silver medal.Beyond the Olympics, he earned six World Championship medals, two of them gold.Rowing was not just the sport he loved – it was a way of life. ‘I know what I do, I know the rowing family, and I managed to do rowing as a lifestyle, not as a moment,’ he once told World Rowing. More to follow.