Adolf Balázs won the 1,000-meter single scull final with a confidence worthy of a contender on Sunday, the final day of this year’s first-choice competition for kayakers, in Maty-er near Szeged.
| Adolf Palaz (Photo: National Sport, Archives) |
The sky fell in the middle of the day, and the rain fell as if pouring from a bowl during the kayak selection competition in Szeged. From a beginner’s point of view, it happened at the best possible time, as they would only have their lunch break between the morning and afternoon program, so that they could safely enter the boats. The same couldn’t be said of the Canadian canoeist who ventured out onto the open course to get a feel of the surroundings minutes before taking a “cold shower”.
Well, what was a Canadian athlete looking for in a mate? Between May 11 and 14, the local bastion of kayaking will host the first World Cup competition of the year, and 55 flags decorated on the connecting bridge opposite the runway – Szeged, the International Kayaking Association, and the 53 participating countries – have also been announced. Among them are the flags of Algeria, Australia, Brazil and Spain, and delegations of countries – like the Canadian lady – we can already meet along the coast.
There were no surprises in the daily finals of the Olympic canoe events, with Takax Kenso winning the women’s individual 200 and Adolf Balaz winning the men’s individual 1000 (the latter by two or three sculls lengths). However, dám Varga and Noé Bálint did not validate the paper model in the men’s 500m kayak pairs, and last year’s K-2 1000m U23 world champions Bens Vajda and Tamas Szabo Zanto snatched the gold from them.
results
Kayak. men. 500 m. K-2: 1. Bence Vajda (Atomérőmű SE), Tamás Szántói Szabó (Vasas SC-ARC-S group) 1:32.082, 2. Á. Varga. (KSI), Noé B. (Budapest Honvéd SE) 1:32.622, 3. Opavszky M. (MTK), Fodor B. (Katalin Kovács Academy) 1:33.954. slim. 200 m. K-1: 1. Rica Kisko (KSI) 45.369, 2. Solium (Fez) 46.226, 3. Shellac (DKSE Dunaújváros) 46.297
boat. men. 1000 m. C – 1: 1. Adolf Balázs (Ajtógyár Óbudai Ganz) 3:55.759, 2. Fejes (Honvéd) 4:00.163, 3. Á. Slihoczki (DKSE) 4:02.731. slim. 200 m. C – 1: 1. Takács Kincső (Graboplast Győri VSE) 48,200, 2. B. Nagy (MVM Szeged VSE) 48,422, 3. Virág Balla (FTC) 48,432
| “Running my 500 on Friday was a huge disappointment, but this win has given me a huge boost until the selection competition in two weeks. I feel like there is a reason to fight and train. I had to fight strong headwinds, which I don’t like, but I still have Good track. I wouldn’t call it extreme track, but I pushed it anyway. I don’t know exactly where I am in the domestic field, because the best of the competition haven’t started.” Rica Kisko, winner of the K-1200m |
| “We prepared for all weather conditions, we raced in a very strong headwind in the morning, although we avoided rain in the afternoon, that wasn’t a problem either. We ran a good course, and the 500m was always closer to me – even if we won last year with the world championship title in the junior 1000-meter race. We have fully prepared for this distance, we knew the size of our backlog, and we worked on it.” Pines Vajda, member of winning unit K – 2,500 metres |
| “I had a good track, but it was tough because I had my first serious test of the year. Plus, it put the burden of opportunity on me, which I didn’t take lightly. I was able to put it aside at the start and just focus on the race. I trusted In cruising speed, because this year we haven’t dealt with acceleration much yet, since we have a long racing season ahead of us, we need to step up the world championship… I slowed down twice in the first 500, which is not commensurate with a World Cup race, because the field is harshly behind me. I have to go more evenly.” Adolf Balázs, C-1 1000m winner |
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“I couldn’t pay attention to anything in the two hundred metres, so I kept rowing, after getting to the finish I thought I was seventh… I felt like the race was tight, but I’m satisfied because I finally rode a lap group. During the preparation we focused more on Strengthening the leg muscles, I think the change has paid off. In doubles, we are back in tune with Virág Balla, but we have to fight a lot to get back to first place. The competitive situation is a relief, and it will benefit the whole Hungarian women’s canoe sport. “ |
