Poland’s Anna Pulawska and Hungary’s Balint Kopasz clinched the kayak single crowns as Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan made it a hat-trick of canoe titles at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan, Italy.
Pulawska withstood a stern challenge from Australia’s rising star Natalia Drobot to become the first-ever Polish paddler to seal the women’s K1 500m world title, while Kopasz held off another Australian in Thomas Green to win a titanic men’s K1 1000m final.
Czechia’s Olympic champion Martin Fuksa also topped the podium after showing his class to claim the men’s canoe single 1000m gold.
Click here for startlists and live results in Milan
In the non-Olympic events, Ukraine’s Luzan delivered gold in both the women’s C1 500m and women’s canoe double 200m, while Hungary clinched the men’s canoe four 500m title for the first time since 2007.
Pulawska’s historic gold caps a fantastic season, having won the women’s K1 500m crown at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cups in Szeged and Poznan.
Drobot, the 20-year-old Australian, did not make it easy for her, getting off to a flying start to lead over the first 250m, but Pulawska came back fighting.
The Pole overcame Drobot with a scintillating finish to seal victory in 1:49.30.
Drobot won silver in, while Hungary’s Zsoka Csikos also came back strongly to win bronze in 1:49.84.
“This is the best year of my career so far, so I am really happy,” said Pulawska.
“I have more motivation for next year.
“The K1 was really important. It feels great to start the next Olympic cycle on a strong note.”
The men’s K1 1000m final was an epic contest as Pimenta set the early pace before Green took pole position only for Kopasz to snatch the crown by 0.18.
Pimenta, the European champion, burst out of the traps and looked in control over the first half of the race before Green and Kopasz clawed their way back.
Green got in front and appeared to be closing in on his first world title in K1 before Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Kopasz clinched gold, crossing in 3:25.50.
A time of 3:25.68 saw Green claim silver, while Pimenta sealed bronze in 3:26.16.
“I am very satisfied,” said Kopasz.
“In this race, there are several big opponents - world and Olympic champions. So I am very happy that I won this race. It was fantastic for me. I was mentally and physically strong, and that is the most important for me. In the last 10 years, I was in the final A, every big championship. I trained hard and now I am going to relax a bit after Milano.
Just 24 hours after missing out on gold in the men’s C1 500m, Fuksa responded with a dominant display.
Fuksa showed his quality, pulling clear of the rest of the field to claim the men’s C1 1000m title in 3:45.69.
Stefanos Dimopoulos dug deep to secure an historic silver in 3:47.92 – Greece’s first-ever medal at the World Championships.
Hungary’s Balazs Adolf came from last position to win bronze in 3:49.40 after a stunning finish, overcoming Romania’s Catalin Chirila by 0.16.
“This is my main event,” said Fuksa.
“I just focused on myself, go fast.
“A few metres before the finish, I looked and I knew.
“I am so happy to be a world champion again.”
Luzan claimed her second gold of the World Championships with victory in the women’s C1 500m.
The Ukrainian kept her nose in front and stayed there, holding off the challenge of Canada’s Katie Vincent to win in 2:01.27.
Vincent claimed silver in 2:02.50, with Spain’s Maria Corbera bagging bronze in 2:04.73.
Luzan completed her hat-trick in the women’s C2 200m with victory alongside Iryna Fedoriv.
Backing up their triumph over 500m yesterday, Luzan and Fedoriv secured the title with a new world’s best time of 41.87, bettering the previous record of 42.01 from 2019.
Individual Neutral Athletes paddlers Yuliya Trushkina and Inna Nedelkina finished 0.72 behind in 42.59 for silver, with Audrey Harper and Andreea Ghizila of the United States clinching bronze in 42.78.
“We are very happy and honoured to win two gold medals,” said Luzan.
“Today is very special as it is the National Day of Flags, so it is great to see our national flag raised two times, so we are really proud.
“We have had a very successful year. We didn’t expect to get such good results and so many gold medals, so we want to express our gratitude to our coaches and our team for their support.”
The final race of the day saw Hungary power to the men’s C4 500m crown with a dominant display.
Kristof Kollar, Istvan David Juhasz, and Jonatan Daniel Hajdu sealed top spot in 1:30.38, as Spain’s Daniel Grijalba, Martin Jacome Couto, Manuel Fontan, and Adrian Sieiro came second in 1:31.15.
AIN quartet Ilya Verashchaka, Stanislau Savelyeu, Uladzislau Paleshko, and Danila Verashchaka bagged bronze in 1:31.45.
“It was a very nice race with a strong last 100m, so we are very proud,” said Kollar.
“The last time Hungary won this event was 2007, so it’s a very good feeling to do this here.”
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