KAZAN – The competition programme of Day 3 at the 5th World University Canoe Sprint Championship, the final day of the championship, featured 16 medal events. The male kayakers competed in K1, K2 and K4 at 200m and 500m with the canoeists racing the same distances single (C1), in pairs (C2) and in fours (C4). The female racers fought for the top spot on the podium in the K1 and K4 200m events, K2 races were performed at 200m and 500m.
Following the women’s kayak double finals, the male rowers embarked on quest for the K2 500m medals.
The Polish pair of Marcin NICKOWSKI and Mariusz KUJAWSKI left no competitors with a chance to grab the victory. They took control of the field in the first half of the race and produced a perfect run in a time of 1:43.08, adding another gold to Team Poland’s collection. The Russian K2 crew of Igor BAK and Ruslan MAMUTOV clawed their way to the silver medal in a tightly fought contest. Ricardas NEKRIOSIUS and Andre OLIJNIK were pipped into fourth place after finishing behind the Ukranian kayak double team of Sergii TOKARNYTSKYI and Igor TRUNOV.
The kayakers performing in the first men’s K1 500m race have gotten to know each other quite well in the past two days of the championship. The Belorussian athlete Pavel MIADZVEDZEU and the representative of Uzbekistan Villiam IBRAGIMOV took a head start. Russian kayaker Kirill LYPUNOV chose another tactic and played a waiting game. Then he developed such a great finish speed that his opponents seemed to have stopped dead. Kirill LYPUNOV has become a university world champion with the time of 2:02.69. The Belorussian kayaker Pavel MIADZVEDZEU came only second, and the bronze medallist Guillaume BURGER (FRA) finished two seconds behind the winner.
Another set of women’s K2 medals was awarded today. There was an intense fight for gold at the 500m sprint. The obvious favourite was the Polish pair Karolina NAJA and Beata MIKOLAJCZYK who had taken the bronze medal at the London Olympics. They proved themselves once more in Kazan by coming first in a time of 2:01.35. The Russian athletes Kira STEPANOVA and Anastasia PANCHENKO came second (2:06.06) thus adding silver to Russia’s collection. The Hungarian pair Nora SZILVASY and Petra SZABO took the third place (2:07.62).
The men’s C1 500m final race turned out to be quite a challenge: the side wind caused considerable problems for the paddlers.
Romain BEUGNET of France adapted to the weather conditions best of all; he set an early pace in the first half of the race and held the lead until the finish line. The Hungarian canoe racer Tamas KISS came second, adding another silver medal to his personal career tally. The Russian single canoeist Oleg SHELEGOV narrowly missed out on silver, with a time of 2:12.17, and took home the bronze medal.
The Ukrainians were the obvious favorites of the men’s C2 500m finals. Vitaliy VERHELES and Denys KAMERYLOV looked clearly stronger than their opponents so there is no surprise that they have become the champions. They left all the other competitors far behind and came first in a time of 2:01.11. The Belorussian pair Siarheu PRYVOLKIN and Dzianis REUT came second. By the middle of the race they had a steady third place, but managed to develop a much higher finish speed. The Moldavian athletes Pavel RUSU and Andrei TURCAN also showed a fantastic break. They were only fifth after the first 200 metres, but took bronze by finishing third.
The Russian men’s K4 crew had good gold medal chances in the 500m distance race. Sergey DUZ, Igor BAK, Ruslan MAMUTOV and Oleg ZHESTKOV have already proved to be a great team by taking the bronze. They have improved their results, but only by one point. The Russian crew took silver medals with the time of 1:31.46. Only at the end of the race did they fall behind the Belorussian crew (Pavel MIADZVEDZEU, Dzianis KLIMOVICH, Andrei KALOSKA, Vitaliy BIALKO), who took the second gold medal at this championship. The third to cross the finish was the Polish quartet Pawel SZANDRACH, Gizerorz BLEKA, Sebastian SZYPULA, Dawid PUTTO.
The men’s C4 500m final race revealed the best canoe team of four at the 5th World University Canoe Sprint Championship. Snatching the gold medal was the Ukranian four (Vitaliy VERHELES, Denys KAMERYLOV, Oleg TARNOVSKYI, Eduard SHEMETYLO) that took control of the field from the outset and held the lead until the end of the race (1:52.16). The Czech Republic and Belarus fought tooth and nail to win silver, with both teams taking turns dominating the field. Eventually the Czech quartet of Vojtech RUSO, Martin EGERMAIER, Tomas JANDA and Radek MISKOVSKI gained the lead and clawed its way back to the silver medal spot (1:53.03) with bronze going to the Belarusian C4 crew of Aliaksei RYBAK, Dzmitry RABIANOK, Dzmitry PIVAVAR and Andrei MISACHENKA. The Polish four was disqualified.
The men’s first K1 200m medals were also decided today. Ignas NAVAKAUSKAS (LTU) made a strong start and built a confident lead, but in the last 50 metres the Russian kayaker Kirill LYPUNOV produced a strong push and earned the second gold medal of the day (39.95). Ignas NAVAKAUSKAS of Lithuania took silver with Manfredi RIZZA adding bronze to Italy’s tally.
A super sprint – a kayak single 200m race – is always the most dramatic and nail-biting event of the competition programme. There is no time to think; each fraction of a second a rower hesitates can cost a spot on the podium.
The women’s K1 200m race attracted attention due to the fact that Natalia LOBOVA, the finalist of the London 2012 Summer Olympics (6th place) and Kazan 2013 Ambassador, was taking part in the event. The championship’s favourite, Natalia took control of the race from the very outset and despite desperate efforts of Inna KLINOVA (UKR) she came home first in a time of 48.53. KLINOVA settled for silver (48.73) with Petra SZABO finishing third (51.94).
Russian fans hoped for Nikolay LIPKIN’s victory in the men’s C1 200m sprint. LIPKIN took a powerful head start and was leading all the way through the short distance race competing with the Belorussian athlete Artsem KOZYR for the leadership. However, at the very end of the race he lost his advantage. The gold medal went to Artsem KOZYR (46.44), Nikolay LIPKIN (46.90) got the silver medal, and the Polish canoeist Mariusz KRUK(47.29) added bronze to his country’s collection.
All the athletes had mostly equal chances in the men’s K2 finals. The kayakers not only had to compete with their opponents, but also had to perform against a strong side wind. The Polish pair Dawid PUTTO and Sebastian SZYPULA managed to do it better than others by coming first in a time of 36.71. The second to finish were Hungarians Marton SIK and Gergely BOROS (37.19). The tandem of Kirill LYPUNOV and Alexandr NIKOLAEV (37.44) added bronze to Russia’s collection.
Following the men’s finals, the women’s crews entered into a struggle for the K2 200m medals. Despite the fact that the Russian pair of Elena ANUSHINA and Olesia NIKISHAEVA succeeded to offer a tight battle Poland’s Karolina NAJA and Beata MIKOLAJCZYK and managed to outrun the rest of pursuers, the Russian athletes crossed the finish line exactly one second behind the Polish paddlers. Poland’s time is 42.51, Russia’s is 43.51. Claiming another gold medal, the Polish national team strengthened its lead in the overall medal count. Team Russia gained silver and bronze went to the Czech Republic (Jana SEBESTOVA, Jana BLAHOVA).
The men’s C2 200m race proceeded in a hard-fought battle which became an exact phrase to describe the entire championship. The Russian pair of Pavel PETROV and Nikolay LIPKIN was eager to earn another gold for Team Russia and brilliantly succeeded in this mission. Almost an hour prior to this race Nikolay LIPKIN claimed the C1 200m silver medal and now he celebrated a long-awaited gold together with his teammate. The winners’ result is 41.98. Finishing in second place were the Polish paddlers Tomasz POSPIECH and Mariusz RUSZYNSKI (44.22). Yurii VANDIUK and Andrii RYBACHOK of Ukraine settled for bronze (44.44).
As the championship approached its end, it got harder and harder to win as every race exhausts the athletes. There was an intense fight for the medals in the men’s K4 200m sprint. The winners were decided literally at the last metres of the distance. Up until then the eight kayaks had equal chances. This time Lady Luck smiled upon the Polish crew. Sebastian SZYPULA, Gizerorz BLEKA, Piotr MAZUR and Dawid PUTTO added another gold to their country’s collection in a fantastic time of 34.51, taking into account the weather conditions. Hungarians Marton SIK, Gergely CSASZAR, Mate SZOMOLANYI and Gergely BOROS came second in a time of 35.05. The Russian crew of Kirill LYPUNOV, Alexandr NIKOLAEV, Igor BAK and Oleg ZHESTKOV got bronze (35.23).
The women’s K1 finals concluded the women’s races at the 5th World University Canoe Sprint Championship. The K1 finals were marked with a tough competition between four women’s quartets. Despite the efforts of the Polish athletes, the Russian crew kept the lead and added another gold medal to the Russian collection. Thus, the Russian quartet (Elena ANUSHINA, Olesia NIKISHAEVA, Anastasia PANCHENKO, Natalia LOBOVA) took the first place in a time of 41.57, and the Polish (Agnieszka KOWALCZYK, Magdalena KRUKOWSKA, Edyta DZIENISZEWSKA, Paulina WIEWIORA) get silver by finishing in 42.23. The crews of Czech Republic and Hungary got engaged in a close and furious fight for third place coming almost simultaneously, but the Czech quartet (Jana SEBESTOVA, Jana BLAHOVA, Michaela FASNEROVA, Lucie MATOUSKOVA) were just fractions of a second faster and thus got bronze.
The final medals of this FISU event were decided in the men’s C4 200m races. The last gold of the championship went to the Russian national team. Russia’s C4 crew (Pavel PETROV, Nikolay LIPKIN, Ramil ALIMOV, Oleg SHELEGOV) made a lightning start and completed the course in an impressive time, leaving not less strong competitors far behind: Team Belarus (Siarheu PRYVOLKIN, Dzianis REUT, Andrei ZHAVARANAK, Dzianis MAKHLAI), Czech Republic (Vojtech RUSO, Martin EGERMAIER, Tomas JANDA, Radek MISKOVSKI), Poland (Pawel SKOWRONSKI, Tomasz POSPIECH, Mariusz RUSZYNSKI, Jakub KOZBIAL) and Ukraine (Vitaliy VERHELES, Denys KAMERYLOV, Oleg TARNOVSKYI, Eduard SHEMETYLO). Russia takes gold (40.73), Belarus snatches silver (41.49) and the Czech Republic manages bronze (41.91).
(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate)
RESULTS
MEN
C1 200m – C1 500m – C2 200m – C2 500m – C4 200m – C4 500m
K1 200m – K1 500m – K2 200m – K2 500m – K4 200m – K4 500m
WOMEN
K1 200m – K2 200m – K2 500m – K4 200m – K4 500m
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