Spain showed their strength in speed and endurance as Sara Ouzande and Jaime Duro captured titles on the final day at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Cup in Szeged, Hungary.
Ouzande outpaced her rivals to win women’s kayak single 200m gold before Jaime Duro outlasted his opponents in the men’s canoe single 5000m at the end of the day.
The non-Olympic events also saw wins for Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta, Sweden’s Melina Andersson, Hungary’s Zsofia Csorba, Australia’s Jean Van Der Westhuyzen and China's canoe quartet in Szeged.
lick here for live schedule and results from Szeged
Ouzande and Duro were in impressive form on Hungarian waters, with the former storming to victory in 39.01.
She beat China’s Shimeng Yu who crossed in 39.41 for silver, while Hungary’s Anna Lucz bagged bronze in 39.43.
“It was very good,” said Ouzande.
“I tried to start fast but not so fast to control the whole race and be quick in the last metres.
“I am only thinking about a medal at LA28.”
Duro won by more than 30 seconds as he secured the men’s C1 5000m crown in dominant fashion.
The Spaniard surged ahead before winning in 24:53.31 as Hungary’s Balazs Adolf was left trailing to take second in 25:26.34 and Czechia’s Robin Hirsch picked up bronze in 25:46.14.
“I am so happy and so proud for this achievement,” said Duro.
“Szeged is always a great course.
“I started so fast and after the first portage I was alone so I tried to keep the distance from second until the finish”
Csorba delighted the home crowd with victory in the women’s C1 5000m.
The Hungarian proved too strong, triumphing in 28:19.71 as Germany’s Carlotta Loska claimed silver in 28:38.76 and Chile’s Maria Jose Mailliard bagged bronze in 28:42.79.
“It always feels good to win,” said Csorba.
“I have learnt a lot from this 5K.
“It was pretty difficult as we had really warm weather here so we had to keep a lot of our energy for the end of it but I am glad I managed it.”
The finals of the last kayak races of the day saw victories for Pimenta and Andersson.
Pimenta overcame Denmark’s Mads Brandt Pederson to secure men’s K1 5000m gold in 21:55.97.
Pedersen was unable to stop Pimenta as he took silver in 21:57.45, while South Africa’s Hamish Lovemore finished in 22:12.01 for bronze.
Andersson overcame home favourite Emese Kohalmi to seal the women’s K1 5000m title.
Andersson crossed the finish line in 24:46.25 as Kohalmi claimed silver in 24:52.99 and Spain’s Estefania Fernandez bagged bronze in 24:53.59.
Australia’s Jean Van Der Westhuyzen came out on top in an absorbing men’s kayak single 500m final.
Van Der Westhuyzen led throughout, seeing off early challenges from Spain’s Alex Graneri and Argentina’s Agustin Vernice before overcoming late rallies from Czechia’s Josef Dostal and Hungary’s Adam Varga.
Dostal and Varga came motoring in the second half of the race, but it was not enough to get the better of Van Der Westhuyzen
The Australian won in 1:35.81 as Varga came through to take silver in 1:36.90 and Dostal earned bronze in 1:37.11.
“I am super happy,” said Van Der Westhuyzen.
“It’s always hard because these guys are such monsters out there. You always know you are going to be in a tough race. It’s always a pleasure to race with them.
“I just kept my head in my own lane, focused on my race. I felt good, stuck to my race plan and worked out in the end.”
China added to their medal tally with an impressive gold in the women’s canoe four 500m.
Fresh from winning the women’s C1 500m title yesterday, Mengya Sun teamed up with Shuqi Li, Li Yang and Yanan Ma to take top spot in 1:44.65.
Hungary picked up silver in 1:46.17, while China’s second crew earned bronze in 1:48.00.
“We are very satisfied with this result and we really like this course,” said Ma.
“We got a bronze and gold medals we have a very strong team.”
“It’s a different competition to the Asian Championships but we keep the same attitude so this gives us confidence for the next World Cup.”
Full coverage of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cups can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
Join Planet Canoe's YouTube channel for €9.99 per month to unlock members-only content and features
Related links
