The 2006

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). The World Cham ...

were held in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, from August 17 to 20 2006. This was the second time the Hungarian city had hosted the championships, doing so previously in 1998. Men race as individuals, pairs and quads over 200 m, 500 m and 1000 m in both Canoe (Canadian) (C) and

Kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

(K) events, giving a total of 18 gold medals. Women compete for only 9 gold medals as they race in kayak events only. This was the 35th championships in canoe sprint.

Highlights

Host nation Hungary won twelve of the twenty-seven gold medals.

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, who had topped the medal table in Zagreb in 2005, took four golds, as did

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Hungary's medal haul included victories in all nine women's finals,

Natasa Janics Natasa Dusev-Janics ( sr-Latn, Nataša Dušev-Janić, sr-Cyrl, Наташа Душев-Јанић; born 24 June 1982) is a Hungarian Canoe sprint, sprint canoer who has competed for Hungary since 2001 and has won six Olympic medals in the spri ...

and

Katalin Kovács Katalin Kovács (born 29 February 1976) is a Hungarian sprint canoer. She competed in the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics and won eight medals, with three golds (K-2 500 m: 2004, 2008, K-4 500 m: 2012) and five silvers (K-2 500 m: 2000, 2 ...

winning six titles each. In the men's races, Mexican

Everardo Cristóbal José Everardo Cristóbal Quirino (born August 11, 1986 in Urandén, Michoacán) is a Mexican sprint canoeist who has been competing since 2005. His first successful international performance was in 2006, when he won the silver medal in ...

shocked the top Europeans with victory in the C-1 1000 m final, giving Mexico their first-ever world championship gold medal. The K-1 1000 m, the

Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. T ...

event, was won by Markus Oscarsson of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Germany's

Ronald Rauhe Ronald Rauhe (born 3 October 1981) is a German sprint canoeist who has competed since 1997. Competing in six Summer Olympics, he won a complete set of medals in the K-2 500 m event (gold: 2004, silver: 2008, bronze: 2000). Rauhe has won 16 world ...

won three gold medals to give him a career total of ten. Hungarian György Kolonics, who holds the (men's) record for paddlers currently in competition, won the fourteenth gold medal of his career in the C-2 1000 m final. Russia's Maxim Opalev won his eleventh title. Other perennial favourites such as

Andreas Dittmer Andreas Dittmer (born 16 April 1972 in Neustrelitz, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a German sprint canoeist. The dominant sprint canoeist of his generation in 1000 m races, he has won three Olympic and eight world championship gold medals. Dittmer ...

Eirik Verås Larsen Eirik Verås Larsen (born 26 March 1976 in Flekkefjord) is a Norwegian sprint kayaker who has competed internationally since the early 1990s. He has participated in three Summer Olympics, and has won a complete set of medals (gold: 2004 K-1 ...

and Adam van Koeverden however were unable to repeat previous successes. Germany won their first-ever C-4 title (1000 m). In the men's K-4 races, however, no German boats made the podium - the first time that had happened since 1977. Special mention should also go to the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Petr Procházka Petr Procházka (born March 26, 1964 in Hradec Králové) is a Czechoslovak-Czech sprint canoeist who competed from 1982 to 2006. World junior champion in Belgrade in 1982, Procházka missed the 1984 Olympics because of the East ...

, the oldest man at the championships, who took gold in the C-4 200 m final.

Medal summary

Men's

Non-Olympic classes

Canoe

Kayak

Women's

Non-Olympic classes

Kayak

Medal table

References

Medal tableResults of Flatwater Racing World Championships

International Canoe FederationFinal A videoPhotos
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Icf Canoe Sprint World Championships

Canoe sprint Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water. Overview Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. Canoe sprints are so ...

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships International sports competitions hosted by Hungary Canoeing in Hungary