Serbia’s Strahinja Dragosavljevic sporting the Superman crest on his chest stormed to victory on a day when Hungary showed their kayak four dominance at the International Canoe Federation Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships.
It was an exciting day of racing in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal as Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), Poland, Slovakia and Serbia all picked up gold medals.
Hungary came away with a hat-trick of titles – with all three victories coming in the K4.
Click here for startlists and live results from Montemor-o-Velho
The first of those was won by Milan Konyecsni, Levente Jancso, Marcell Gazdag and Vilmos Szabo in the men’s K4 junior 500m.
They surged clear to win in 1:27.60 as AIN came second in 1:29.27 and Czechia clocked 1:29.49 for bronze.
Hungary picked up another gold in the women’s K4 junior 500m as Hanna Havadi Hollo, Panna Jeszkel, Anna Meszaros and Mirtill Moor won in 1:40.48.
They got the better of Germany who took silver in 1:41.78 and Serbia who finished in 1:41.82 for bronze.
Gold number three for Hungary came in the men’s K4 U23 500m as Peter Samu, Zalan Imre Hidvegi, Hunor Tamas Hidvegi and Gergo Zoltan Keller emerged victorious in 1:22.86.
Italy dug deep to seal silver in 1:23.55 as Belgium overcame AIN to take bronze in 1:23.94.
“We have a lot of training camps, work hard together so it’s a really good team,” said Hunor Hidvegi.
“It was a really good achievement for us to win today.
“We are young in U23 so it’s a pleasure to be here and race this World Championships.
“This motivates us and we plan win the senior World Championships so we are focused on that.”
Wearing a vest with the Superman logo emblazoned on it, Dragosavljevic proved too strong as he stormed to the men’s kayak single U23 200m title in a time of 36.10.
Norway’s Lucas Roesten crossed in 36.35 for silver, with Portugal’s Pedro Casinha earning bronze in 36.37.
Dragosavljevic said it was redemption after he capsized in the junior final two years ago.
“I feel amazing,” said Dragosavljevic.
“The Junior World Championships in 2023 was heartbreaking for me so to win here in Portugal where I flipped two years ago is great and I’m very proud of myself.
“Back in 2023 was the first time I wore my Superman top but I have continued with it and have won here.
“I love it, I am growing into Superman as a hero. Everyone needs a hero to give hope and strength so I’m trying to be that.”
There was also no stopping Italy’s Gabriele Casadei as he powered to victory in the men’s C1 U23 500m.
Casadei, the Olympic silver medallist in the men’s canoe double 500m, triumphed in 1:54.31 as Spain’s Daniel Grijalba came second in 1:56.31 and Poland’s Kacper Damian Sieradzan claimed third spot in 1:57.11.
“I am really proud about this,” said Casadei.
“The conditions were really difficult especially for the left-sided paddler like myself but it was fine in the final so I’m happy.”
There was a three-way battle for the women’s C2 junior 500m crown with AIN duo Maryia Papichych and Palina Sobal winning in 2:06.84.
Hungary’s Vanda Matkovics and Petra Laura Paragi started strongly before holding for silver in 2:08.88 as Germany’s Lilli Erhard and Carlotta Loske battled to take bronze in 2:09.26.
Brazil’s Lucas Santos held off a strong finish from AIN paddler Aleksandr Mineev to win by a mere 0.15 in the men's C1 junior 500m final.
The Brazilian crossed in 1:59.68 as Mineev finished in 1:59.84 and Hungary’s Milan Gyanyi posted 2:02.15 for bronze.
In-form Spanish pair Angels Moreno and Viktoriia Yarchevska swept to the women’s C2 U23 500m title.
Moreno and Yarchevska won in 2:04.06 as Hungary’s Panna Gyore and Csepke Molnar clinched silver in 2:05.47 and Germany’s Maike Jakob and Hedi Moana Kliemke bagged bronze in 2:06.23.
A superb showing from lane one saw Poland get the better of Hungary to secure men’s canoe four junior 500m gold.
Mateusz Gehrke, Kacper Stanek, Oskar Dekowski and Mateusz Augustyniak finished first in 1:39.97.
Hungary had to settle for silver in 1:40.85 as AIN picked up bronze in 1:40.89.
Lane one also proved successful for Serbia’s Ognjen Kramer who captured the men’s K1 junior 200m title in 36.78.
Slovakia’s Alex Gavlider crossed in 37.21 for silver, with Italy’s Antonio Arizzi completing the podium after posting 37.33.
Reka Bugar, Sofia Bergendi, Hana Gavorova and Bianka Sidova struck gold for Slovakia in the women’s K4 U23 500m.
The Slovakian quartet won in 1:37.28, seeing off Australia and Spain who clocked 1:38.96 and 1:39.26 respectively for the other two podium spots.
Ukraine were celebrating when they edged Hungary and AIN to seal the men’s C4 U23 500m crown.
Yaroslav Verbliud, Taras Kuzyk, Volodymyr Savchyn and Vitalii Prystai won gold in 1:35.73.
Hungary finished 1.12 behind Ukraine for silver and 0.03 in front of AIN who collected bronze.
Germany’s Nele Reinwardt produced the most emphatic performance of the day, winning the women’s K1 junior 1000m title by more than five seconds.
Reinwardt crossed in 4:10.41 before AIN’s Anastasiia Kravchenko came second in 4:15.60 and Romania’s Bianca-Andreea Istratescu took third in 4:15.86.
The final race of the day was won by Italy’s Lucrezia Zironi, beating defending champion Arina Tanatmisheva of Uzbekistan by 2.17 in the women’s K1 U23 1000m final.
Zironi sealed the win in 4:03.80 as Tanatmisheva registered 4:05.97 for silver and Germany’s Enja Roesseling claimed bronze in 4:06.51.
Pictures by Bence Vekassy
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