Ukraine picked up three gold medals and Great Britain two on the final day of paracanoe competition at the ICF world championships in Copenhagen on Saturday.
Hungary’s Peter Kiss picked up the final medal on offer, retaining his KL1 world title and adding to the Paralympic gold he won in Tokyo this year.
“It was really hard for me, two weeks ago I went to the Paralympics and I won, then I had to get motivated for this,” Kiss said.
“But I did it, and I won. I came here to defend my title, and I’m really looking forward to Paris. But I really want to hold on to my world championship and European titles.”
Brazil’s Luis Carlos Cardoso Da Silva finished second, with Hungary’s Robert Suba winning the bronze.
Ukraine enjoyed its best single day result at a paracanoe world championships, with Serhii Yemelianov and Maryna Mazhula retaining their men’s KL3 and women’s KL1 titles respectively, and Mykola Syniuk winning his first men’s KL2 title.
Mazhula returned to the top of the podium after the disappointment of missing gold in Tokyo, turning the tables on German Paralympic gold medalist Edina Mueller.
“It was really hard to lose in Tokyo, but it also taught me how to be stronger emotionally,” Mazhula said.
“It was so challenging, but I trained physically and mentally to get back to first place.”
Chile’s Katherinne Wollermann repeated her bronze medal result from Tokyo.
Serhii Yemelianov won his fourth consecutive men’s KL3 world title, adding to the second Paralympic gold he won in Tokyo two weeks ago. The Ukranian has not been beaten since before the Rio Olympics.
“It’s been a good year, but I have a dream of being four-time Paralympic champion and 10-times world champion, so I have half my goal,” Yemelianov said.
“I was tired in Tokyo, now I’m exhausted. But I am happy. It has been a hard year.”
Great Britain’s Robert Oliver added the silver medal to the bronze he won in Tokyo, while Spain’s Juan Antonio Valle took the bronze.
Mykola Syniuk celebrated the best result of his career with gold in the men’s KL2, adding to the silver he won behind Australia’s Curtis McGrath in Tokyo.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, I have trained so hard to win my first gold medal,” Syniuk said.
Italy’s Federico Mancarella, a bronze medalist in Tokyo, finished second, while Austrian six-time world champion, Markus Mendy Swoboda, finished third.
Great Britain’s Charlotte Henshaw picked up her second gold medal of the week, successfully defending her KL2 world title and ending a successful season which also included a Paralympic gold medal.
“It’s felt so long, the last few weeks have really felt like it’s been a five-year cycle,” Henshaw said.
“I’m just really happy to get the job done today. My body and mind are pretty tired right now, so that was the challenge, just to put down a good run.”
In a repeat of the result from Tokyo, British teammate Emma Wiggs finished second, and Hungary’s Katalin Varga took the bronze.
There also a British one-two in the women’s KL3, with Tokyo gold medalist Laura Sugar taking her first world title, ahead of teammate Hope Gordon.
“I had never won a world title before this year, so to win two in the space of two weeks is pretty incredible,” Sugar said.
“I didn’t feel as good today, I think it’s taken it out of me a bit from Tokyo. I had to dig deep in the second half after not a very good start, so I’m really happy to have had the fight today.”
France’s Nelia Barbosa, the silver medalist behind Sugar in Tokyo, finished with the bronze.
Great Britain finished the ICF Paracanoe World Championships on top of the medal table, with six gold medals, followed by Ukraine with three gold.
Pics by Bence Vekassy
