Early Saturday afternoon at Szeged’s canoe sprint venue an event unfolded that sent shivers down the spine of every non-Hungarian looking on.
In a break between ICF Junior and U23 canoe sprint events, local organisers conducted three races for Hungarian kids. There were nine boats in each race, every participant aged about 12.
The first race was for boy’s K4. 36 12-year-old boys. Then followed a girl’s K4 race. 36 12-year-old girls. Finally, a mixed C4 race. 18 12-year-old boys, 18 12 year-old girls.
This was your canoe sprint equivalent of a military parade, an opportunity to show off your firepower to the rest of the world. And for every country looking on, it was a frightening experience. Already athletes and team leaders look at Hungary in awe; providing this sneak preview of the future will not make any of them sleep easier at night.
This, one Hungarian told me, is why we are so strong in canoe sprint. These are the best paddlers from different clubs scattered throughout Hungary. To get to Szeged they had to win local races.
This story, and this incredible mid-afternoon display, goes a long way to explain why Hungary has already won 17 of the 34 gold medals on offer this week. They have incredible depth. For every gold medalist, there are usually at least another Hungarian who could have achieved the same result.
On Saturday the host nation picked up eight gold medals to go with the nine it won on opening day. Four of the gold came in Olympic-distance events, four in non-Olympic races. By Saturday night Hungary had 30 medals overall, meaning it has missed out in only four events so far.
Take Emese Kohalmi. On Saturday she successfully defended her U23 K1 1000 title. Easily. She’s still just 20-years-old, meaning she has another three years to torment all her challengers.
“I just tried to do my best, and that was my best, it was perfect for me,” Kohalmi said after her win.
“I have three more years doing U23, so we will see. The 1000 is one of my favourite races, and this one today is one of the best because I won it here in Hungary, and I love having them here.”
At least Balazs Adolf and Daniel Fejes are getting to the end of their U23 career. They won the C2 1000 on Saturday, breaking the hearts of Ukraine’s Artem Chetvertak and Pavlo Borsuk on the line.
“It was a hard race, we expected to be hard because we had the Ukraine crew in our heat so we knew they were strong,” Adolf said.
“We weren’t even sure we had won when we crossed the line, not until we got to the pontoon could we be sure.”
RESULTS – NON-OLYMPIC DISTANCES
C4 WOMEN 500 JUNIOR
- GERMANY 1:53.41
- HUNGARY 1:54.01
- UKRAINE 1:55.30
C4 MEN 500 JUNIOR
- UKRAINE 1:34.97
- HUNGARY 1:35.35
- POLAND 1:37.38
C1 WOMEN 500 U23
- TOT Vanessa (CRO) 2:08.65
- WAN Yin (CHN) 2:08.80
- GONCZOL Laura (HUN) 2:09.18
K1 WOMEN 1000 U23
- KOHALMI Emese (HUN) 3:56.84
- ROESSELING Enja (GER) 3:58.19
- PALOUDOVA Anezka (CZE) 3:59.09
C2 MEN 1000 U23
- ADOLF/FEJES (HUN) 3:34.88
- CHETVERTAK/BORSUK (UKR) 3:34.95
- DOMINGUEZ/DOMINGUEZ (ESP) 3:37.02
K1 WOMEN 1000 JUNIOR
- SIDOVA Bianka (SVK) 3:59.44
- NEMES Reka (HUN) 4:02.21
- KLIMENT Leni (GER) 4:03.08
C2 MEN 1000 JUNIOR
- MOLNAR/JUHASZ (HUN) 3:42.89
- MIRISMANOV/SOTIBOLDIEV (UZB) 3:45.58
- CULCEAC/BANARU (MDA) 3:46.17
C1 WOMEN 500 JUNIOR
- LI Li (CHN) 2:05.45
- KISS Agnes (HUN) 2:05.62
- BROVKOVA Mariya (KAZ) 2:08.09
C4 WOMEN 500 U23
- CANADA 1:50.81
- POLAND 1:52.58
- HUNGARY 1:53.58
C4 MEN 500 U23
- SPAIN 1:32.36
- HUNGARY 1:32.65
- POLAND 1:32.84
K2 MIXED 500 JUNIOR
- TOLGYESI/KOLLEK (HUN) 1:36.26
- DEL GRATTA/SPADACINI (ITA) 1:36.45
- DROBOT/TAURINS (AUS) 1:39.10
C2 MIXED 500 JUNIOR
- VERBLIUD/FEDORIV (UKR) 1:52.72
- AZEVEDO/FERNANDES (POR) 1:52.89
- GYANYI/BENKUKS (HUN) 1:53.46
