There was exhilaration for the host nation as they secured their first gold medal at the International Canoe Federation Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Halifax, Canada.
Canada's combination of Grace Theunissen and Victoria Tran couldn’t be stopped as they powered through the scorching heat to take gold in the women’s junior canoe double 500m.
Hungary underlined their dominance in the kayak four 500m, winning three of the four gold medals on offer in the event.
Slovakia denied Hungary a clean sweep of the K4 titles, while China secured the women’s U23 C2 500m crown on Lake Banook.
Click here for live startlists and results from Halifax
Theunissen and Tran secured their title in a time of 2:10.80 as they became the only Canadian paddlers to reach the podium on the first day of finals.
“We are so so happy, we felt confident going out there, we were a little bit nervous,” said Tran.
Theunissen said: “Once we got going, we just thought this is our race, this is our lake, we train for this every day here, and no one was going to take it from us.
“We’ve been training and racing together for about two and a half years, and it’s our first international medal together so it’s a great feeling.”
Yuhan Shao and Yanyang Huang captured silver for China in 2:12.20, as German duo Lykka Strobel and Johanna Lahrsow took bronze in 2:12.51.
A tight start to the race ended in victory for Hungary who emerged with gold in the men’s junior kayak four 500m final.
The quad consisting of Aron Takats, Milan Opavszky, Bruno Csakvari and Oliver Kardos powered to the finish line in 1:30.02.
“That was a really, really hard race. I thought I was going to die,” joked Kardos.
“We stuck to the plan and practiced a lot. It turned out exactly how we wanted it too.”
Just 0.05 seconds separated the remaining podium spots with Germany in 1:30.56 and Spain in 1:30.61.
In the women’s junior K4 500m, the false start clock echoed around the lake, but it didn’t waver the Hungarians as they paddled to victory.
Lara Bebok, Bianka Hofer, Vivien Lesko and Nadin Csallo left their competitors chasing their tail as they retained their title in 1:41.51.
"I feel really happy. I was excited for this race and I believed it was going to be a great opportunity for us. I was convinced we could do it, so I gave everything I had out there. In the end, we achieved it, and I'm very happy,” said Lesko.
Germany captured silver in 1:43.09, while the Serbian team took bronze in 1:44.26.
In the men’s U23 K4 500m, Hungary came out on top to defend their crown with a time of 1:26.05.
The victors, consisting of Zoltan Mircse, Peter Samu, Zalan Hidvegi, and Levente Szabo, reigned supreme.
"We're feeling really good. The race was so tough and we had really strong rivals, but we kept going and we won,” said Mircse.
"It was a really hard race with tough opponents. We had to push really hard, and it was close the whole way. But we came out on top, so we're really satisfied with this race.
"I still can't believe it. We've worked for this for so long, so it's an amazing feeling."
Poland put in an impressive performance to capture silver in 1:26.58, while Germany took bronze in 1:27.84.
Slovakia edged out Hungary in a dramatic finish to win the women’s U23 K4 500m crown, separating the two teams by just 0.30 seconds as they crossed in 1:35.81.
Hungary took silver in 1:36.12, with Spain completing the podium in 1:37.93.
It was neck and neck between China and Ukraine throughout the women’s U23 C2 500m final.
The Chinese duo of Jianhua Luo and Li Li came out on top, taking gold in 2:08.17 after missing out on the podium at last year’s U23 World Championships.
“Everything came together for us today. We felt really lucky, especially with the conditions, they were perfect for us,” said Luo.
“Our goal was to do our best and fight for first place. Of course, we are really happy to come away with the gold.”
Iryna Nedilko and Iryna Fedoriv of Ukraine took silver in 2:09.90, as sisters Iringo Batka and Imola Batka added to Hungary’s medal tally with a bronze in 2:10.50.
Full coverage of the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
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