More Olympic and world champions have signed up for this weekend’s inaugural International Canoe Federation Virtual World Cup, including Czech Tokyo Olympic canoe slalom gold medalist, Jiri Prskavec, and Ukraine’s Tokyo Paralympic silver medalist, Mykola Syniuk.
Hungary’s 200 metre Olympic gold medalist, Sandor Totka, was one of the first athletes to sign up for the ICF Virtual World Cup, and has now been joined by teammate and Olympic K1 1000 silver medalist, Adam Varga, and Hungarian world champions Emese Kohalmi and Eszter Rendessy.
Several ex-Olympians have registered to race in the masters division, while an impressive list of junior world championship medalists will compete in the under-age section.
Organisers are also thrilled to have several paracanoe athletes registered to compete in the 2000 metre race, headed by world champion and Paralympic silver medalist, Syniuk.
“As Saturday draws closer we are filled with excitement to be hosting our first online world cup,” ICF President Thomas Konietzko said.
“it’s obvious this event has captured the imagination of athletes of all levels all around the world. The opportunity to race against Olympic, Paralympic and world champions does not come along often, so I’m sure this weekend will see keen racing.
“Of course, as this is our first virtual world cup we will be testing the water in many ways. But the quality of the entries and the number of competitors is already a good sign that there is a strong appetite for an event such as this.”
The virtual world cup will offer opportunities for individual races in three categories – junior, senior and masters 40+ - for both men and women. There will also be races for men’s and women’s paracanoe. Each race will have a cut-off of 15 minutes.
The ICF has partnered with world-leading ergo manufacturer KayakPro to ensure the competition offers the best possible athlete experience. Competitors will need access to a KayakPro machine, and the cutting edge Genesis Port Bluetooth Smart Console. Athletes who don’t have the console may qualify for an ICF donation.
Competitors will also need to be able to film their performance, to be part of the ICF livestream program.
You can find the latest event bulletin here. The event webpage is here.
