Anze Urankar, Simon Oven and Nejc Znidarcic received the Stanko Bloudek Awards, the highest state honours in the field of sports in Slovenia since 1965.
Teenage slalom sensation Ziga Lin Hocevar was awarded the Bloudko Plaque, a prize given to an individual or an organisation for a significant contribution to the development of Slovenian sports.
The awards were presented during a ceremony at the Linhart Hall of the Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana, which also saw Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic medallists from the country being facilitated.
Slovenia has been a dominant force in Wildwater Canoeing for many years, with Urankar, Znidarcic, and Oven starring at the World and European Championships.
In the last seven years, they have been team world champions three times and team European champions four times.
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At the 2024 Wildwater Canoeing World Championships in Sabero, Spain, the trio won individual medals as well.
Urankar and Znidarcic achieved a Slovenian one-two in the men’s kayak sprint final, with the former taking the gold medal while Oven won the men's K1 classic title.
It was a special year for Urankar, a Youth Olympic Games gold medallist in Canoe Slalom, who also represented his country at the Canoe Sprint and Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships last year.
Hocevar enjoyed an excellent season in 2024, winning the individual and team golds at the European Championships at 17.
He also bagged his first World Cup title in Augsburg and finished second in the C1 overall International Canoe Federation World Cup standings.
Picture by GOV.SI/Slovenian Canoe Federation/RTVSLO
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