Canoe sprint powerhouse nations Germany, Hungary and China have dominated the opening day of medal competition at the International Canoe Federation Junior and U23 World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on Friday.

Germany picked up five gold medals, Hungary four and China three as seventeen gold medals were decided on a busy day of competition. The Germans and the Hungarians had a stranglehold on the K4 500 events, with Germany winning both the men’s and women’s U23 titles, and Hungary taking both junior events.

Germany’s Carlotta Loske and Lykka Strobel won the women’s C2 women’s junior 500, Tobias Hammer and Jan Prager the men’s K2 men’s U23 1000, and Leon Rekzah and Hannah Spielhagen the mixed U23 K2 500.

Hungary’s other two gold medals came in the women’s U23 C2 500, through Reka Opavszky and Zsofia Csorba, and Hanna Peto and Zsadany Hizo in the mixed junior K2 500.

China finished day one with three gold – Huizhen Hu in the women’s junior K1 1000, Xijian Zhang and Xikang Zhang in the junior men’s K2 1000, and Xina Jiang in the women’s U23 C1 1000.

Athletes from the independent nations also picked up three gold. They triumphed in the men’s U23 C4 500, Ilya Veraschchaka and Stanislav Savelyeu in the men’s C2 U23 500, and Maryia Papichych in the junior women’s C1 1000.

Brazil’s Lucas Santos and Mateus Santos won the junior men’s C2 500, and Uzbekistan’s Arina Tanatmisheva the women’s U23 K1 1000.

Access the full Friday results and the weekend schedule here.