History was made in Prague when two Djibouti brothers slalomed their way down the city’s iconic Troja course.
For the first time, the East African nation is being represented at an International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom World Cup.
Raage Magan and Aar Magan, aged just 18 and 15 respectively, are the history makers for Djibouti in the Czech capital.
Competing alongside the world’s best and racing in front of a big crowd of slalom lovers could have been overwhelming for the two teenagers.
But they took everything in their stride as Raage completed the course before his younger brother Aar followed moments later.
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“I was a little nervous, especially sitting there waiting in the blocks but once you get out there and look at the crowd, you get a sense of calm and start smiling,” said Raage.
“It’s lovely to be here.”
Aar added: “It’s really nice to compete in Prague for my first World Cup. It’s one of the best courses out there.
“I was just trying to compete and do all the right moves.
“It was a bit nerve-wracking but I know the fans here would be supporting us, so it didn’t really bother me.
“It’s great for us to get used to the atmosphere here and show us how different these races to the local races that we usually do.”
Born and bred in Charlotte, North Carolina after their parents emigrated to the United States, Raage and Aar could compete for the US but chose to represent Djibouti.
After competing at last year’s ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom World Championships in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia, Raage and Aar set their sights on making their senior World Cup debuts.
“This is something we had planned for a long time,” said Raage.
“We needed to come to a World Cup, and we decided that Prague would be the best one to come to.”
It is set to be a busy weekend for Raage and Aar who competed in yesterday’s short slalom demonstration event and will feature in today’s classic slalom and tomorrow’s kayak cross competition.
The siblings are soaking up the experience and learning as much as possible from the world-class paddlers around them.
“It’s great to get the experience of competing with these high-level athletes, watching them compete and seeing what we can pick up from them,” said Raage.
“That’s exactly what we are doing to see how we can improve.
“As there are so many incredible athletes, it’s very easy to notice these things and it really helps you.
“I try to speak with them as much as possible. I spoke to a couple of the Irish guys and one guy from Slovenia so far and just try to get myself out there.”
Raage and Aar believe their World Cup experience is an important moment in their fledgling careers and for paddling in Djibouti.
“It’s the first World Cup for Djibouti so I think it’s going to lead to a lot more paddlers,” said Aar.
Raage added: “The representation is the most important part, getting ourselves out there and getting people to know us and expect good things from us in the future.
“These races are what we are going to build on in the future.
“We are going to look back at these races and we are going to see how much we have improved.
“We can bring the best out of each other.”
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