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Fitting end to enthralling<br />
Sports<br />
Marathon Worlds<br />
It was an impressive display from the Hungarian duo of Vanda Kiszli and Sara Anna Mihalik, who won the women's K1 title on the final day<br />
of the 2017 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday. Anthony Grote/ Gameplan Media<br />
Pietermaritzburg -<br />
South African Hank<br />
McGregor confirmed<br />
his position at the top of<br />
international marathon kayaking<br />
when he claimed his<br />
second gold medal of the<br />
ICF Canoe Marathon World<br />
Championships by partnering<br />
Jasper Mocké to victory<br />
in the men’s K2 race on<br />
Sunday at Camps Drift in<br />
Pietermaritzburg.<br />
But it was Hungary who<br />
emerged from the four days<br />
of competition as clearly the<br />
top nation at the Championships<br />
with their two silver<br />
and two gold medals on<br />
the final day’s action taking<br />
their total for the competition<br />
to an incredible 20 medals:<br />
10 gold, eight silver and two<br />
bronze.<br />
South Africa were second<br />
on the medal table with eight<br />
medals (2 gold, 3 silver and<br />
3 bronze) with Great Britain<br />
third on five (1, 1, 3).<br />
For South Africa,<br />
McGregor added a second<br />
gold to the one he earned for<br />
winning the K1 event on Saturday<br />
when he and Mocké<br />
added a fourth medal to their<br />
personal tally of two golds<br />
from 2014 and 2016 and silver<br />
from 2015.<br />
The local heroes produced<br />
a potent finish sprint to claim<br />
their victory, but behind them,<br />
in a bizarre photo-finish for<br />
second, the Hungarian pair of<br />
Adrián Boros and László Solti<br />
celebrated their second position<br />
before crossing the line.<br />
That allowed South Africa’s<br />
second boat of Andy Birkett<br />
and 18-year-old schoolboy<br />
Jean van der Westhuyzen to<br />
finish just centimetres back<br />
in third.<br />
The top three were almost<br />
identical to the 2016 finish<br />
order when McGregor and<br />
Mocke beat Boros and Solti<br />
with Birkett and Louis Hattingh<br />
third. This win is also<br />
the third time the McGregor/<br />
Mocke and Boros/Solti combinations<br />
have shared the<br />
top two positions with the<br />
Hungarians winning in 2015<br />
and grabbing silver last year.<br />
There was nothing easy<br />
about the final event of the<br />
championships with a massive<br />
group of boats jostling in<br />
a testosterone-laden bunch<br />
for the first lap until things<br />
broke apart and there were<br />
finally seven boats left halfway<br />
through the second lap<br />
as the paddlers headed for<br />
the first portage.<br />
That became five when the<br />
Hungarians were dropped<br />
just before the first portage<br />
and their hopes of a medal<br />
looked to be fading away as<br />
they slipped to more than<br />
30 seconds behind the lead<br />
group. But, in an incredible<br />
show of power paddling, the<br />
Hungarian duo hauled themselves<br />
back into contention<br />
on lap six.<br />
From there it was a tight<br />
tactical battle until the final<br />
portage where, as with the K1<br />
race on Saturday, McGregor<br />
and Birkett led the race to<br />
the water and then held the<br />
two lead positions through<br />
the top turn and into the final<br />
sprint for glory.<br />
As, as with Saturday,<br />
McGregor, this time with<br />
Mocké providing added<br />
power from the back of the<br />
boat, was able to keep his<br />
boat in front to claim his<br />
tenth World Championship<br />
gold medal.<br />
But for Birkett there was<br />
no repeat of Saturday as he<br />
and the young Van der Westhuyzen<br />
were no match for the<br />
potent power of the Boros<br />
and Solti and the Hungarian<br />
pair always looked to be<br />
the silver medallists once the<br />
sprint started.<br />
Luis Pérez and Miguel Llorens<br />
from Spain were fourth<br />
with Frenchmen Stéphane<br />
Boulanger and Jérémy<br />
Candy fifth and the final boat<br />
from the lead group, the Norwegian<br />
brothers Eivind and<br />
Jon Vold drifting over the line<br />
in sixth.<br />
After ten victories and<br />
three K1 and K2 double<br />
golds in 2014, 2016 and this<br />
year, it could be expected<br />
that McGregor would be a<br />
bit blasé about winning, but<br />
he seemed somewhat overwhelmed<br />
after his victory.<br />
"It hasn't quite sunk in yet<br />
to be honest,” said the 2015<br />
World Padddler of the Year. "I<br />
was never going for anything<br />
like this and to even win one<br />
world title is something special,<br />
but to win ten is incredible.<br />
"To win it here in front of<br />
the home fans with Jasper<br />
was special, and it rounded<br />
off a fantastic week for me<br />
with my family here.<br />
"The South African public<br />
always knew that we were<br />
good but to watch to happen<br />
firsthand will hopefully<br />
encourage people to get into<br />
paddling.<br />
"I think that somewhere<br />
along the line someone has<br />
been inspired to pick up a<br />
pair of paddles and give it a<br />
go.<br />
"It's really hard racing with<br />
the K2's travelling at 22km<br />
per hour in shallow water,<br />
but you can't get flustered<br />
and have to just roll with the<br />
punches.”<br />
Kzn Lifestyle Magazine • Issue 36<br />
35
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