Lausanne, August 27, 2013: ICF Canoe, The world famous Canoe Sprint venue is hosting this prestigious event for the fifth time, a record unrivalled by any other venue.
With a confirmed entry of 839 athletes the event is the largest senior event on the 2013 ICF Calendar and boasts a truly world-class line-up with 19 Gold medal winning athletes from the 2012 London Olympic Games set to race.
The paracanoe event will be the first to get underway and provides an opportunity for the aspiring Rio 2016 Paralympians to showcase their talent in front of an expected capacity crowd.
The Russian Federation has the largest team with 54 athletes, including the Men’s Olympic K2 200m Gold medal winning duo of Yury Postrigay and Alexander Dyachenko.
Hungary has the second largest contingent with 43 athletes and trump Russia with three Olympic Gold medal winning boats on the start line.
Germany have 42 athletes and will hope to dominate in the same way they did last time the championships visited Duisburg back in 2007. On that occasion they won nine gold, six silver and three bronze medals.
The hosts also boast 2012 Olympic Gold medal winners, including Women’s K2 500m duo of Franziska Weber and Tina Dietze, and Men’s C1 1000m champion Sebastian Brendel.
Peter Kretschmer and Kurt Kuschela also won Gold in the Men’s C2 1000m in London. However, they will not compete in the C2 on this occasion, instead they will occupy two spots in the German C4 1000m team.
The nine athletes from New Zealand and the solo representative from the Cook Islands will have the furthest to travel clocking up whopping 11,500 air miles.
Lisa Carrington is undoubtedly New Zealand’s biggest medal prospect. The 24-year-old has not stopped winning since her victory in the Women’s K1 200m at the Olympic Games last year and is a strong contender in the Women’s K1 200m and 500m.
Australia’s Men’s K4 1000m Olympic Gold winning team is also in the mix. The Quartet will certainly need all their strength, speed and timing to maintain their status as the best crew in this discipline; expect strong opposition from the likes of Germany and Belarus.
All the action will take place on a 2km stretch of water in the centre of Duisburg Sports Park. The Sport Park dates back to 1919 and has become internationally recognised after hosting a string of world-class events, including the World Games in 2005.
The event will also reach a global TV audience and be streamed on the ICF on Demand channel. —- ICF
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