The 2024 International Canoe Federation Hangzhou Super Cup was special for more than one reason.
The celebration of paddle sports saw athletes from Canoe Sprint, Canoe Slalom, Canoe Marathon, and Canoe Polo come together for the first time in a multi-discipline format.
One of the biggest attractions at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre was the $350,000 prize pool, with some of the participants winning big.
Here are the stars who made it count from three days of action in China.
Serghei Tarnovschi ($5900)
The Moldovan certainly did not take the Super Cup like a season-ender. Tarnovschi competed in four events and stood on the podium all four times, including two gold medals. He started with a silver in the men's canoe single Canoe Marathon short distance. He backed that up with a gold in the men's C1 500m before teaming up with Poland's Wiktor Glazunow to take bronze in the canoe double 500m. The final day saw the 27-year-old join forces with Canadian Sophia Jensen to stand on top of the C2 mixed 500m race.
Monica Doria ($4300)
The kayak cross world bronze medallist may have won only one medal, but with prize money extending beyond the podium positions, Doria ended her Super Cup with a bang. She won silver in the canoe short slalom and finished fourth in the kayak short slalom. The Andorran's next best result came in the canoe final, where she came fifth while the kayak final saw her finish seventh. She also reached the quarter-final in the kayak cross.
Agustin Vernice ($4100)
The Argentinian bounced back from a fourth-place finish in the kayak single 1000m at Paris 2024 in style by winning the K1 500m title in Hangzhou. Teaming up with Francisco Cubellos, he took bronze in the men's K2 500m, while China's Mengdie Yin helped him to a hat-trick of podiums, concluding with a silver in the mixed K2 500m.
Camille Prigent, Mads Brandt Pedersen, Liudmyla Babak and Melina Andersson ($4000)
Pedersen and Babak were in a different league in the men's and women's short and long-distance Canoe Marathon races, respectively. The Dane raced in a kayak and the Ukrainian was in a canoe. Racing in a kayak, Sweden's Melina Andersson continued her supremacy over Hungarian Vanda Kiszli from Metkovic, winning two golds. France's Prigent was unstoppable in the women's kayak classic slalom and kayak short slalom, finishing first in both.
Nicolae Craciun ($3900)
Craciun finished behind Tarnovschi in the men's C1 500m before pairing with compatriot Dawid Szela to claim gold in the men's C2 500m. On the last day of the Super Cup, the two-time world champion combined with Georgian star Mariam Kerdikashvili to bag bronze in the mixed C2 500m.
Mallory Franklin ($3800)
A silver medal in the women's canoe was the best result for Franklin in Hangzhou. She, however, backed that up on the final day by claiming bronze in the kayak cross. Away from the podium, she finished sixth in kayak and repeated the performance in the canoe short slalom to make the most of the Super Cup prize money.
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