The second competition day of the 2016 ECA Canoe Marathon European Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, did not bring much novelty. Hungarian paddlers continued their domination at this year’s championships. Today they won four European champion titles, the only title that did not went to Hungary was in men’s junior C2 where Portugal celebrated gold medal.
Ricardo Coelho and Duarte Silva were the ones who enjoyed their glorious moments on the podium listening to the national anthem of Portugal. They crossed the finish line 13 seconds faster than their closest opponents Arved Heine and Jonas Mode from Germany. Polish duo Patryck Piotrowicz – Mateusz Cybula picked up a bronze medal.
The Hungarian team celebrated a big win in men’s C1 U23 event, where Bence Balazs Dori stopped the clock at 1:51:48 and was 21 seconds faster than Patryk Gluza (POL). Another Polish competitor Mateusz Borgiel finished third. The new European Champion Bence Balazs Dori prepared a real show for the spectators by the river bank of the Río Lérez. He was paddling most of the race together with Polish canoeist Patryk Gluza, but switched gears on the last turn prior to the final lap and secured himself a win.
“It was pretty amazing. It was a tough race. I can say that I am very happy I could make it to the top of Europe again after two years of struggles in C1,” said Bence.
The final escape has been part of his strategy, “It was planned, but I was pretty stressed, because I did not know how much power the Polish guy still had left. After the last turn I saw I had some advantage, I was calmed and then I was able to win. I am really happy.”
Men’s K1 U23 race brought some serious drama on the last portage when Hungarian Adam Petro and Mads Brandt Petersen of Denmark fought for some important advantage before the last lap. They got stuck for a moment, which resulted in a fall of the Danish paddler. Adam Petro could celebrate a gold medal, after silver he won last year at European Championships, and Mads Brnadt Petersen finished second, just ahead of his compatriot Nicolai Due Gadegaard Mørcke.
Viktoria Fruzsina Nagy and Zsofia Korsos won another gold for Hungary in women’s junior K2 event. Their closest opponents were Roos Broekx and Hanna Plas from Belgium and Danish athletes Cathrine Rask and Line Landelund were third. Danes were the defending champions from last year’s European championships in Slovenia.
Istvan Lukacs and Akos Obert were the fastest in junior K2 race. They were followed by Francisco Capin and David Migoya of Spain and Portuguese representatives Luis Ferreira - Nuno Cruz were third.
For complete list of results - click here
