Only once since 1977 has anyone other than Germany/East Germany or Hungary won World Championship sprint canoe gold in the women’s K4 500.

The extraordinary dominance of these two canoeing powerhouses in this event has been breathtaking; 28 consecutive gold medals shared between them from 1978 until 2014.

In 2015 the run came to an end when Belarus snatched gold ahead of the Hungarians and Germany in Moscow. Now the question being asked, could the big two be upstaged once again in Racice next week?

The nation everyone will be watching is tiny New Zealand. The girls from the Land of the Long White Cloud surprised many when they qualified for last year’s Rio Olympics, and then showed they weren’t just making up the numbers by finishing fifth in the final.

Since Rio, New Zealand has added the formidable Lisa Carrington, a multiple Olympic gold medallist, to the crew, and won both World Cups they competed in this year.

And young guns Aimee Fisher and Caitlyn Ryan have swept all before them in individual events, most recently Fisher at the World U23 Championships in Pitesti where she won the K1 200/500 double in impressive fashion.

The time is ripe for both Hungary and Germany to be picked off. Hungary in particular has seen major changes in its boat, most notably the absence of the paddling legend, Danuta Kozak.

But underlining the country’s depth, they have experimented with different line-ups at this year’s World Cups and still managed to finish in the medals.

Germany still has three of their 2016 Olympic silver medal crew paddling, but have taken longer than most to reach their best in the post-Olympics year.

In New Zealand’s absence in Belgrade, France, a new crew who are also expected to challenge for medals next week, took the honours.

It would be extremely foolish for anyone to suggest the era of women’s K4 500 world domination by Hungary and Germany is about to come to an end.

The same two nations have dominated the event at an Olympic level. Only at the discipline’s debut in 1984 did another nation get a look in, an Olympicswhich both Hungary and East Germany boycotted.

In their absence Romania won the gold.

Having experimented with different line-ups this year, has Hungary settled on a crew that can take the proud paddling nation back to the top of the podium?

Or has Germany timed its run to perfection, planning a snatch-and-grab in Racice?

Or will we crown a new nation as World Champions?

It will be one of the most eagerly anticipated races of the 2017 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, worth the price of admission alone.