Slovenia, a tiny European nation of barely two-million inhabitants, can boast two of the biggest names in world sport competing at the Tokyo Olympics – two time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, and two-time NBA All-Star Luka Doncic.
On Monday 34-year-old canoe slalom paddler Benjamin Savsek added his name to the list of famous Slovenians, winning his country’s first ever canoe slalom gold medal, and just his country’s sixth gold medal in its Olympic history.
He was able to go two better than his world-famous cycling teammate, who won bronze in the men’s cycling road race on Saturday. It’s not a competition, of course, but Savsek’s performance is certain to capture the attention of a sport-crazy nation which cherishes its sporting heroes.
He was already a household name in Ljubljana, a sportsman of the year in 2013, 2015, 2015 and 2019. He will have hot competition for the title this year, but on Monday he forwarded a compelling application.
Savsek arrived in Tokyo fully aware time was running out for him to win an Olympic medal. Eighth in London in 2012, sixth in Rio in 2016, his results had been tracking the right way, but his age wasn’t.
“I was thinking that maybe this was my last chance, that’s why I was working really hard, just thinking about getting a medal at this Olympic Games,” Savsek said.
What Benjamin Savsek did have on his side was the best CV of all the paddlers in the field. He was the only athlete to have won a world title, but that was back in 2017. More recently he was crowned European champion in both 2019 and 2020.
Having the best CV is all well and good, but it takes more than that to write history. Slovenia had two minor canoe slalom Olympic medals – one of them a silver won by his Tokyo roommate Peter Kauzer in the men’s kayak – but had never made it to the top of the podium.
“This was my goal, and I’m really proud and happy to have done it,” Savsek said.
“In our discipline we’ve been waiting for this medal for a long time, and now it’s the first gold medal for canoe slalom and I am really happy and proud.”
There was one other hurdle Savsek had to overcome to become champion. Since 1996 only two countries had ever won men’s canoe Olympic gold – Slovakia and France – and both were in the final.
But Frenchman Martin Thomas and Slovakian Matej Benus were no match for a determined Slovenian looking to possibly leave the Olympic arena with a bang.
And Savsek left nothing to chance. More than three seconds separated him from the rest of the field. He was the only paddler to go under 100 seconds, and one of only four in the final to complete the course without a penalty.
If you’re going to create history, best do it emphatically.
