Poland’s Anna Pulawska issued a statement of intent for the start of the season as she completed a kayak single double at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Cup in Szeged.
After winning yesterday’s K1 500m crown, Pulawska backed that up with an impressive victory over 200m in the Hungarian city.
The Polish paddler got the edge over her competitors and kept her nose in front throughout, roaring with delight after crossing the finish line in 43.53.
Silver went to Australia’s Natalia Drobot who clocked 43.98, while China’s Nan Wang earned bronze in 44.28.
“I am really surprised with today’s race as it’s not my distance so I am really happy and it’s my first gold medal in 200m so I am really happy,” said Pulawska.
“I feel stronger and everything is perfect for me.”
"Angry" Varga bounces back for K1 gold
Hungary’s Adam Varga overcame the frustration of missing out on a medal in the men’s K1 1000m to clinch gold over 500m.
Varga got off a terrific start, putting distance between himself and his rivals before finishing in 1:44.67 to take the title.
Spain’s Alex Graneri finished strongly to seal silver in 1:44.94 as reigning world champion Josef Dostal of Czechia edged Hungary’s Bence Nadas on the line to take bronze in 1:45.17.
“It means a lot to win because yesterday in the 1000m it was not so good for me,” said Varga.
“After that, it is really good to have this performance.
“Yesterday made me a little angry and that motivated me today.”
Hungarian quartet prove too strong in C4
Hungary picked up another gold medal when Agnes Anna Kiss, Bianka Nagy, Reka Opavszky and Zsofia Katalin Csorba took the women’s C4 500m crown in 1:59.36.
Chain’s quartet of Shuqi Li, Lina Xue, Mengya Sun, Yanan Ma claimed silver in 1:59.36.
Canada’s Sophia Jensen, Zoe Wojtyk, Jacy Grant and Sloan MacKenzie bagged bronze in 2:01.15.
“We are absolutely delighted,” said Kiss.
“It was very strong and we could do our best so we are very happy.”
Rain wrecks havoc in C1 5000m races
The day ended with driving rain and strong winds when paddlers took on the canoe single 5000m races.
Hungary’s Zsofia Katalin Csorba rose to the challenge to take gold in 28:11.39.
Spain’s Maria Corbera clinched silver in 28:33.18, with Hungary’s Borka Zagyvai secured bronze in 29:22.59.
“Thankfully we had our training camp in Turkiye where we had some similar conditions there. We had the opportunity to get used to this kind of weather so I was able to pull out those experiences from my pocket.”
There was delight for Cuba in the men’s C1 5000m as Jose Ramon Pelier Cordova triumphed in 23:20.97.
Spain’s Jaime Duro posted a time of 23:37.91 for silver, while Hungary’s Balazs Adolf completed the podium in 24:04.94.
“I am vert happy with the result as it was very hard training to be here,” said Pelier Cordova.
“The weather was tough as Cuba is not as cold as here but we got the result which is very important.”
Andersson gets season off to flier
As the weather improved, Sweden’s Melina Andersson shone bright in the women’s K1 5000m.
Andersson swept to victory in 23:23.00, seeing off the Hungarian challenge, with Emese Kohalmi taking silver in 24:08.38 and Eszter Julia Rendessy claimed bronze in 24:09.04.
“I feel good,” said Andersson.
“I was quite scared at the start as there were bad conditions when I went out but when we started it was pretty calm so no problem in the end.”
All the results from today’s races can be found here.
Full coverage of this week's event can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
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