Portuguese pair Teresa Portela and Messias Baptista pulled off a stunning fightback to win mixed kayak double 500m gold at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Championships in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
There were just 0.011 seconds separating the top two as Portela and Baptista edged Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) Volha Khudzenka and Dzmitry Natynchyk in a gripping race.
Khudzenka and Natynchyk were closing in on victory only to be pipped on the line by Portela and Baptista who triumphed by 1:37.592.
The victory ended 36-year-old Portela’s long wait for a world title as she now completes the full set of medals with the gold adding to her bronze in 2009 and silver in 2022.
“It is really special to be here after the Olympics and enjoy this success with Messias as he is a good friend of mine,” said Portela.
“It is great to conquer it with him.
“It’s my first World Championships gold so it is special.
“We knew we were able to do a good race.
“There were a lot of good athletes in this field so we knew it would be a good fight until the end but we won so we are really happy.”
Khudzenka and Natynchyk took silver, with Czechia’s Josef Dostal and Anezka Paloudova claiming bronze.
The world medal is another great moment in a year that has seen the Czech couple get engaged, Paloudova make her Olympic debut and Dostal win gold at Paris 2024.
“This is my first senior medal at a World Championships in Canoe Sprint so I am super excited and I am more than happy to win this with my fiancée,” said Paloudova.
AIN paddlers Mikita Borykau and Aleh Yurenia were crowned world champions in the men’s K2 1000m with a fine performance in the final.
Yurenia said he overcame illness to take gold with Borykau at a sweltering Samarkand.
“This was the main distance for us at the Tokyo Olympics but it was not good,” said Yurenia.
“It has been the dream for the past three years to make it happen over this distance.
“There have been very hard days because of the temperature and I was ill but during the race everything went well.
“We just came together and made the best finish we could.”
Sweden’s Joakim Lindberg and Martin Nathell sealed silver, with Germany’s Felix Daniel Frank and Martin Hiller bagging bronze.
AIN paddler Alena Nazdrova emerged victorious in the women’s canoe single 1000m after leading from start to finish.
“I am very happy that at the end of the season after all the races I still produced my best,” said Nazdrova.
“I controlled the race throughout but the temperature and the weather is the only thing I can’t be well prepared for.
“During the race, I was competing against myself and the weather.”
Hungary’s Giada Bragato battled hard to take silver as China’s Xina Jiang clinched bronze after an exhausting race in the heat.
There was delight for Hungary in the women’s kayak single 1000m as Emese Kohalmi powered to victory.
It is Kohalmi’s third world title and first in this event having previously prevailed over the 5000m distance in 2021 and 2022.
“It was a really good and really hard race,” said Kohalmi.
“I am so proud of myself.
“I really like the 1000m. This is my favourite event.”
AIN paddler Maryna Litvinchuk took silver with Sweden’s Melina Andersson earning bronze.
The other gold medal of the day went to Zakhar Petrov and Ivan Dmitriev in another clash against Hungary.
The AIN paddlers withstood a strong challenge from Hungarians Balazs Adolf and Daniel Fejes to take top spot.
"We only had two days for preparation in the crew," said Dmitriev.
"Thank God we remembered our crew feelings of the past years and managed to restore them at the end, although far from ideal.
"World champion is forever."
Adolf and Fejes picked up silver with Ukraine’s Yurii Vandiuk and Pavlo Borsuk completing the podium by sealing bronze.
Competition will conclude on Sunday with 15 world titles on the line in non-Olympic events.
All the results from today's races can be found here.
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