Three medals at the World Canoeing Championships in non-Olympic competitions were won by Polish representatives in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Canadian athletes won gold medals – Oleksii Koliadych triumphed in the individual 200m and Viktor Glazunov won the C1 5,000m.
The canoeing world championships held in the Olympic year have a somewhat limited formula and less prestige. In the regatta, competitors only participate in events that are not part of the Olympic program (there are 10 in the Olympics).
Poland sent a nine-person team to Uzbekistan, but also included Olympic athletes from Paris. Jakub Stepun, Przemysław Korsak and Wiktor Głazunow competed for medals.
Oleksii Koliadych, who did not participate in the French capital, confirmed once again that he is one of the best individual runners over the shorter distance. After a thrilling finish, the Admira Gorzów Wlkp player defeated Spaniard Pablo Grana by 0.42 seconds.
Viktor Glazunov, the sixth competitor at the Paris Olympics, competed in three events in the 1000 m single scull. In Uzbekistan, he competed in the 500 m single scull. he was fifth in a strong fieldin turn in a duet with Koliadych he did not finish second in the 1000m race.
At the end of the Glazunov regatta he competed in the five-kilometer single-rider competition and won with a huge advantage of almost 16 seconds about Moldovan Serghei Tarnovschi.
Jakub Stepun, who competed in the 500m doubles at the Olympics, tried his hand at the 200m singles. In this competition, the AZS AWF Poznań canoeist won the silver medal at this year’s European Championships. He was also second in Samarkand – in the final he had to admit that only the Portuguese Messias Baptista was superior.
Just 15 minutes after his start, Stepun appeared as the leader of the mixed quartet consisting of Przemysław Korsak, Justyna Iskrzycka and Julia Olszewska. The Poles came in fifth place, while the Belarusians, competing under a neutral flag, triumphed.
Kayaker Sławomir Witczak came close to reaching the podium fourth in the K1 500m final. However, the Pole had extremely strong competitionbecause the race was won by the Czech Josef Dostal ahead of the Portuguese Fernando Pimenta, and the third classified was the Belarusian Uladzislau Krawiec.
Canoeists who were not part of the Olympic team competed unsuccessfully.
Justyna Iskrzycka, who regularly won medals in the individual 1,000 m, unexpectedly, she came in last place in the pre-race and was eliminated from the competition.
Katarzyna Kołodziejczyk was eliminated in the semi-final of the K1 200 m, as well as in the 200 m duet with Sandra Ostrowska.
