The battle between two of the most exciting young canoe sprint paddlers in the world will be the undoubted highlight of this week's ICF Junior and U23 world championships in Szeged, Hungary.

Olympic gold medalist Tom Green of Australia and Hungarian silver medalist Adam Varga are set to go head-to-head in one of several highlights at this week’s championships.

Green partnered Jean van der Westhuyzen to win K2 1000 gold at last year’s Olympic Games, while Varga finished second behind Hungarian teammate Balint Kopasz in the K1 1000 Olympic final, a race where Green finished seventh.

The pair will go head-to-head in the K1 500, K1 1000 and will both be part of their country’s K4 500.

Reigning multiple world champion Emese Kohalmi of Hungary and former junior world champion Sophia Jensen of Canada are among the top athletes competing in the women’s competition.

More than 940 athletes from 64vcountries and five continents have entered this week’s championships. For the first time there will be an athlete from the United Arab Emirates, while Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Puerto Rico and Tunisia are among the countries entered.

The 2022 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships begin on Wednesday and run through until Sunday.