ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World

Szeged – Hungary, July 20, 2014: U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships, Hungary secured a further six medals this morning, whilst last year’s double-World Champion, Emma Jørgensen (DEN) added further to her growing collection by winning the K1 Junior Women 200m.

Surprised at the finish line, Jørgensen struggled to summarise yet another outstanding performance.

“I have no words to describe how I feel. I did not expect the gold at all today.

The girls in the final had some really fast times in the semifinal yesterday and I was not the favourite.

I guess in the 200m you just need to stay focused on your technique.”

The level-headed Dane will now be favourite in her preferred K1 1000m event that is contested later this afternoon.

However, star of the show so far is Hungarian Jonatán Dániel Hajdu.

The 18-year-old from Budapest added the C1 Junior Men’s 200m title to yesterday’s haul of gold and silver from the C1 and C2 Junior 1000m.

Suitably pleased with his efforts the rising Hungarian star said, “I had many races but it all went well.

I feel very tired, my legs were painful after the C2 1000m final yesterday.”

“Last night I watched the video of my semifinal and this morning I got up early to be physiologically ready for the final.”

It’s clear that he has aspirations of following other Hungarian C1 greats. Hajdu continued, “Now my goal is to have the same level of performance in the U23 category.”

Fellow Hungarian, Bence Nádas, also experienced success in a close K1 Junior Men 200m final that went to a photo finish.

“That was a spectacular race. I had a bad start and in the 200m it often means the race is over.

But I managed to finish hard. I think I won the race on the finish line by shooting the boat forward.

It was difficult to wait to know who won, it was so tight! I stayed with my coach a bit confused until he told me I won. I am so happy.”

Edged into the silver position was the super fast Roberts Akmens (LAT).

Bronze went to Max Lemke (GER), who stepped on the podium for the second time in two days after winning gold in the K2 Junior 1000m.

Canada secured their first gold of the championships in their stella-event, the C1 Women 200m.

Ecstatic with her first world title, Junior, Katharine Vincent said, “At the start I felt excited, relaxed and confident, even if you’re always a bit nervous in these situations.

I had a very bad first couple of strokes, I knew I had some catching up to do.

I started gaining some momentum and saw I was coming back just in time to shoot my boat up the finish line although I had no idea of where I was.

With an eye on future targets the 18-year-old continued, “The fact that C1 women will be in the [Olympic] Games soon definitely opens a door.

I am happy to see that for now I am at the level that it takes.

This is my last Junior year, next year I will race in U23, I need to stay focused and continue practicing hard.”

In the first team final of the mornings action, new K2 Men Junior Champion, Balázs Birkás was suitably proud of his near perfect start with teammate Márk Balaska.

“I think we won the race at the start. We were half a boat ahead of the others and we managed to keep this lead until the finish line.

I did not know we had such a sprint speed and we had what it took to get the gold medal, so it’s a great feeling.

This is my second Junior World Medal after last year in the K1 200m.

I didn’t race the K1 this year because I recently hurt my back and couldn’t train as much as I wanted.”

“We have been paddling together in the K2 since 2012.

We took a break with the K2 last year but we are now heading into the U23 category and we want to be world champions as well.

It’s going to take a lot of training but now we feel good physically so it should not be any problem.”

In the final event of the morning Russia stormed to victory as Mikhail Tamonov, and Evgenii Lukantsov crossed the line with a clear margin to win gold in the K2 Men U23 200m.

The action continues with eight more world titles up for grabs this afternoon on the famous Szeged Canoe Sprint course.

2014 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Spint World Championship Medallists

K1 Men Junior 200m

Gold – Bence Nádas (HUN)
Silver – Roberts Akmens (LAT)
Bronze – Max Lemke (GER)

K1 Women Junior 200m

Gold – Emma Jørgensen (DEN)
Silver – Sara Ouzande (ESP)
Bronze – Anna Pulawska (POL)

U23 Canoe Sprint/C1 Men Junior 200m

Gold – Jonatán Dániel Hajdu (HUN)
Silver – Serhii Tarnovskyi (MDA)
Bronze – Vadim Korobov (LTU)

C1 Women Junior 200m

Gold – Katharine Vincent (CAN)
Silver – Anggie Avegno (ECU)
Bronze – Daryna Kastsiuchenka (BLR)

K2 Men Junior 200m
Gold – Márk Balaska, Balázs Birkás (HUN)
Silver – Oleg Gusev, Vladislav Blintsov (RUS)
Bronze – Iñigo Noval, José Luis Gómez (ESP)

K1 Men U23 200m
Gold – Miklós Dudás (HUN)
Silver – Nebojsa Grujic (SRB)
Bronze -Carlos Garrote (ESP)

K1 Women U23 200m
Gold – Anna Kárász (HUN)
Silver – Natalia Podolskaya (RUS)
Bronze – Joana Vasconcelos (POR)

C1 Men U23 200m
Gold – Henrikas Zustautas (LTU)
Silver – Andrey Kraitor (RUS)
Bronze – Zaza Nadiradze (GEO)

U23 Canoe Sprint/C1 Women U23 200m

Gold – Irina Andreeva (RUS)
Silver – Zsanett Lakatos (HUN)
Bronze – Jana Jezova (CZE)

K2 Men U23 200m
Gold – Mikhail Tamonov, Evgenii Lukantsov (RUS)
Silver – Dawid Putto, Bartosz Jonkisz (POL)
Bronze – Ievgen Karabuta, Igor Trunov (UKR). —- ICF