The South African K2 crews fell tantalisingly short of winning medals on the final day of the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships, ending the event with two world champions, a silver medal and three bronze medals, and finishing in fourth place overall.
On a hot day racing on the Lima River the crew of Matt Coetzer and Josh Simpkins finished fourth in the junior boys K2 title decider, with compatriots Josh Smith and Luke Le Roux a short way behind them in seventh.
The women’s K2 race was dominated by Spanish, Hungarian and Swedish crews, with Team South Africa’s Jade Wilson and Christie Mackenzie and the pairing of Pippa McGregor and Jenna Nisbet racing into the top ten with eighth and ninth place finishes respectively.
The championships culminated in the men’s K2 race where 2016 world champions Hank McGregor and Jasper Mocké finished seventh, while a spent Andy Birkett and Nicky Notten withdrew halfway through the race.
The men’s K2 race ensured that the week-long event ended in fairy tale fashion with a popular win for the hometown crew of Jose Ramalho and Fernando Pimenta, with the silver medal for Miguel Llorens and Alberto Plaza helping Spain to leapfrog Hungary to claim the overall Nations Cup.
The event featured a number of notable achievements, including Hungarian icon Renata Csay picked up her 31st ICF world championship medal, on a day when her son, Bruno Kolozsvari, won gold in the men’s junior K2.
Sweden’s Melina Andersson also created history, partnering with Johanna Johansson to take the women’s K2 bronze, and in doing so becoming the first athlete to win four medals at a single world championships.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
ICF CANOE MARATHON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Day Four)
K2 Junior Men
1 Bruno Kolosvari/Oliver Varga HUN 1:34:32.36
2 Julian Salinas/Baltazar Itria ARG 1:34:33.69
3 Joaquin Catalano/Vicente Vergauven ARG 1:34:40.36
4 Matt Coetzer/Josh Simpkins RSA 1:35:12.02
7 Josh Smith/Luke Le Roux RSA 1:38:01.22
K2 Women
1 Tania Alvarez/Tania Fernandez ESP 1:58:09.56
2 Zsofia Czellai/Renata Csay HUN 1:58:19.10
3 Johanna Johannson/Melina Andersson SWE 1:58:32.87
8 Jade Wilson/Christie Mackenzie RSA 2:03:16.92
9 Pippa McGregor/Jenna Nisbet RSA 2:03:23.04
K2 Men
1 Jose Ramalho/Fernando Pimenta POR 1:58:04.39
2 Miguel Llorens/Alberto Plaza ESP 1:58:10.40
3 Eivind Vold/Amund Vold DEN 1:58:15.43
7 Hank McGregor/Jasper Mocké RSA 1:59:54.26
Medal Table
Spain 15 (6G, 4S, 5B)
Hungary 14 (6G, 8S)
Portugal 7 (3G, 1S, 3B)
South Africa 6 (2G, 1S, 3B)
Sweden 4 (2G, 1S, 1B)