Sándor Tótka won a gold medal in the individual 200-meter kayak race at the Tokyo Olympics with sensational racing. The other Hungarian in the number, Csizmadia Kolos, finished fourth in the final.
Thursday's final program started in the usual heat, but in a lighter wind compared to the previous days, which, moreover, turned around and now blew more from the front and from the sides of the competitors. Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, also visited the Sea Forest kayak-canoe course for the finals. Both Hungarians came to the eighth final with two race victories each, in which, apart from the defending champion and world champion from Britain, Liam Heath, the Swedish former World Cup winner, Petter Menning, and Spain's Saul Craviotto, who also won medals at the previous two Olympics, were considered the biggest opponents.
The 27-year-old fresh European champion of UTE, Tótka - the only one who was able to defeat Heath in the finals of the world competition since his triumph in 2016 - almost shot out of the start and triumphed by keeping the advantage he gained there throughout. He could handle the pace dictated by himself, and while national team captain Csaba Hüttner let out a huge battle cry on the beach, he was the first to cross the finish line. The 25-year-old kayaker of Angyalföldi VSE, Csizmadia, also performed excellently, barely missing the podium behind Tótka, the Italian Manfredi Rizza and Heath.
After a long wait, the result was finally displayed on the screen, Sándor Tótka cried, then he hugged the members of the Hungarian team when he reached the shore. This is the 84th five-ring medal of the Hungarian kayak-canoe sport, the 27th gold - previously it has never even managed to stand on the podium in this number - and from the point of view of the Tokyo Olympic team, it is the 14th medal, the fifth gold.
Source: mandiner.hu
Featured image: pestisracok.hu
(MTI)
