The heat is on for the 500m Finals. The temperature really went through the roof for the last day of competition at the World Championships, here in Poznan, when winners of the last 17 medals were contested.
The 500m finals were first on the programme for the final day ensuring any early morning cobwebs were well and truly blown away for fans and competitors alike.
Being the Olympic distance, the 500m finals, always serve up something special in women’s racing. Today was no different.
The crowd were warmed up by the demonstration event of Women’s C2 500m which brought success to Vincent-Lapointe and Nicolson (CAN).
Women’s K1 500m started proceedings in earnest. Would Olympic champion Inna Ospypenko-Radomska (UKR) add a World title to her collection? She had tracked Natasha Janics (Hun) all of the way to the 400 metre point when she struck out for the line. She took the lead and the gold medal. Rachel Cawthorn (GBR) fought superbly to wrestle the bronze medal from Teresa Portela (POR) right at the death. A great race which sent the crowd wild.
The Women’s K2 race was special as it saw Austria win its first ever World Championship medal. Yvonne Shurring and Victoria Schwartz took bronze behind Hungary and Russia. Their joy was boundless as they leapt onto the podium to receive their prizes. In addition the young Russian duo (Salakhova and Sergeeva) were ecstatic to win having competed for several years this had been there best performance. The Russians commented that ‘It was a good race, second place, we are very happy, its amazing for us. Our strategy was to keep a cool head and rely on our powerful arms and sheer strength to win a medal.’
The final race in the programme was the Women’s K4. The fans always relish the classic battles between Hungary and Germany in this category, but with many improving crews, the outcome was still in the balance. As it turned out the Hungarians were too strong for the rest of the world. They really brought their best performance out of the bag today. However, this race really focused on the home town crowd who went wild as the Polish women’s K4, in lane 9, next to the grandstand, took bronze and their first medal of the Championships. They will certainly write the headlines in local newspapers tonight.
This fittingly brought the 500 metre finals to a close
In the women’s K1 race the fans cheered the favourite, Natasha Janics (HUN) as she defended her crown successfully.
In the women’s K2 – Natasha Janics (HUN) won her third gold of the day, with her long-time partner Katalin Kovacs (HUN) as they destroyed the opposition in was one of the most one sided races seen at this Championships such was the domination of these two.
Laurence La Pointe of Canada won the women’s C1 200m event. La Pointe was over the moon and said ‘the race was brilliant it was one of my best race ever.
I am really really happy with my performance’. Some controversy existed over the ladies not being able to manage the automatic starting systems, however, the progress these girls have made is very commendable and we look forward to further improvement next year in this class.
After the success in 2009 with Relays in Halifax it was difficult for the ICF to ignore the popularity of these events both for athletes and for spectators.
As the Championships closing events it is non-stop action over the 200m course. What a fantastic way to end the day. The Canoe class was won by Russia after making the most of an error from the Canadians in the first changeover. The women’s kayak event was an example of powerful women’s racing ably demonstrated by the German team that won the Gold. The Russian 200m relay kayak team told the ICF afterwards ‘We like so much the relay and we are very happy with our medal.’
