Hungarian paddlers dominated the first day of action at the 2016 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Brandenburg, Germany winning six of the seven golds on offer as the strongest canoe marathon nation once again lived up to their number one status.
Ádám PETRÓ (HUN) won the day’s most enthralling race managing to out-sprint Denmark’s Mads Brandt PETERSEN down the final straight to secure victory in the U23 K1 Men’s race.
“I knew I’d have enough to win the sprint as I could see that the Danish paddler had used a lot of energy to keep with the main group early on,” said PETRÓ, who also has two Junior K1 Men World titles to his name.
Argentina’s Franco Ivan BALBOA collected bronze in the same race.
Vanda KISZLI (HUN) stole the show in the U23 K1 Women’s event edging out her compatriot Sára Anna MIHALIK (HUN) late on after the pair had earlier worked together to distance the majority of a strong field.
“We tried hard to push ahead of the rest and decided to work as a team to try and get rid of the South African,” said the KISZLI.
The South African in question was the talented Jenna WARD (RSA) who stuck with the top two for a large portion of the race.
WARD later paid the price for her stroke-for-stroke effort to match the Hungarians speed; and as fatigue set in Belgium’s Hermien PETERS took her opportunity to snatch bronze from the valiant South African.
However, South Africa did step on the podium with Kyeta PURCHASE (RSA) securing a bronze in the Junior K1 Women’s race; she trailed Hungary’s Noémi PUPP (gold) and Viktória Fruzsina NAGY (silver).
France had a good day in the canoe with two early visits to the podium as Eugénie DORANGE (Junior C1W) and then Julie CAILLERETZ (Senior C1W) each collected silver in their respective class.
They were both bettered by Hungarians with Giada BRAGATO winning the junior C1 Women’s battle and Zsanett LAKATOS taking senior honours.
LAKATOS, who has aspirations of competing in the C1 and C2 Women’s Canoe Sprint events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, commented:
“It was my tactic to lead from the front and I did. I know my teammate is slower than the Ukranian and French girls so I had to go alone.”
Portugal showed their strength in the Junior C1 Men’s race with Marco APURA and Sérgio MACIEL closing out the top two steps on the podium.
The Portuguese duo nearly switched places right at the death, as APURA missed the finish line and had to back paddle to negotiate through the bouys. Sportingly – instead of taking gold – MACIEL slowed to allow his compatriot space to correct his error and cross the line in first.
Finally, Bence Balázs DÓRI (HUN) won the U23 C1 Men’s contest completing Hungary’s domination with 11 medals from the day’s racing.
The action continues tomorrow with the K1 Junior Men action getting underway at 09:00 CET
Junior C1 Women (14.4 KM)
Gold – Giada BRAGATO (HUN) 01:30:12.2
Silver – Eugénie DORANGE (FRA) 01:30:48.2 / +36.020
Bronze – Csenge MOLNÁR (HUN) 01:33:12.8 / +03:00.650
C1 Women (18.3 KM)
Gold – Zsanett LAKATOS (HUN) 01:46:45.5
Silver – Julie CAILLERETZ (FRA) 01:47:40.5 / +54.960
Bronze – Liudmyla BABAK (UKR) 01:48:57.0 / +02:11.520
K1 Women Junior (19 KM)
Gold – Noémi PUPP (HUN) 01:34:41.6
Silver – Viktória Fruzsina NAGY (HUN) 01:34:51.3 / +09.710
Bronze – Kyeta PURCHASE (RSA) 01:35:10.3 / +28.680
C1 Men Junior (19 KM)
Gold – Marco APURA (POR) 01:37:21.5
Silver – Sérgio MACIEL (POR) 01:37:23.0 / +01.510
Bronze – Balázs ADOLF (HUN) 01:37:42.5 / +21.000
K1 Women U23 (22.6 KM)
Gold – Vanda KISZLI (HUN) 01:50:30.6
Silver – Sára Anna MIHALIK (HUN) 01:50:51.6 / +21.000
Bronze – Hermien PETERS (BEL) 01:52:38.6 / +02:08.000
K1 Men U23 (26.2 KM)
Gold – Ádám PETRÓ (HUN) 01:56:40.6
Silver – Mads Brandt PETERSEN (DEN) 01:56:47.0 / +06.490
Bronze – Franco Ivan BALBOA (ARG) 01:56:55.6 / +15.040
C1 Men U23 (22.6 KM)
Gold – Bence Balázs DÓRI (HUN) 01:55:08.6
Silver – Levente BALLA (HUN) 01:55:44.9 / +36.270
Bronze – Denys DAVYDOV (UKR) 01:55:48.4 / +39.760
