Attila Vajda (born 17 March 1983) is a Hungarian sprint canoeist who has competed since the early 2000s. Competing in three

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

(04, 08, 12) he has won two medals in the C-1 1000 m event with a gold in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and a bronze in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

. Vajda was a European junior champion in 2000, winning the

Canadian canoe Canadian is the byname used in some countries for the descendants of the birch bark canoe that was used by the indigenous peoples of Northern America as a convenient means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of Nor ...

C-2 1000 m title with Démász-Szeged team-mate

Márton Joób Márton Joób (born 24 June 1982 in Szeged) is a Hungarian sprint canoeist and a politician. He is married to Dóra, and they has 11 children. Sports career As an athlete he has competed since 2003. He won four medals at the ICF Cano ...

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...

, France. In 2002 the pair came second at the European under-23 championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, Croatia in the same event. Hungarian coach

Zoltán Angyal Zoltán Angyal is a Hungarian sprint canoer who competed in the early 1970s. He won a silver medal in the K-1 4 x 500 m event at the 1973 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city ...

was confident of Vajda's ability but took the decision not to give him his senior international debut in 2002 or 2003. In 2004, Angyal was still keeping his cards close to his chest. The Hungarian team did not take part in the early season international regattas: at the European Championships Hungary was represented in the C-1 races by Márton Joób and

Sándor Malomsoki Sándor Malomsoki is a Hungarian sprint canoeist who competed in the early 2000s. He won a gold medal in the C-4 200 m event at the 2003 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2003 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held Septem ...

. Angyal then shocked his rival coaches by selecting Vajda as his "secret weapon" for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in the C-1 1000 m event. In his initial heat with a time of 3:57.290, Vajda qualified for the semifinals. There, he placed second, this time at 3:52.236, advancing to the final round. Vajda won a bronze in the event behind

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

David Cal David Cal Figueroa (born 10 October 1982) is a Spanish sprint canoeist who has competed since 1999. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he has won five medals with a gold (C-1 1000 m: 2004 Summer Olympics) and four silvers (C-1 500 m: 2004, 20 ...

and

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 betwee ...

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 ...

, but beat out 1996 Olympic champion

Martin Doktor Martin Doktor (; born 21 May 1974 in Polička, Czechoslovakia) is the Czech Republic's best-known sprint canoeist. He was double Olympic champion in the Canadian canoe C-1 discipline at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta ...

with a time of 3:49.025. Hungary is one of the few countries in the world where sprint canoeists have the status of stars known to the general public and Vajda suddenly found himself the new "golden boy" of Hungarian canoeing. His performances in 2005 suffered as a result of these distractions; he started the season overweight and failed to make the podium in any major international race. In 2006 he won the national title over all three distances and, in May, beat a top-class international field at

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in ...

. Injury prevented him from appearing at the European championships, but he was determined not to miss the 2006 World Championships, held in his hometown of

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

. He recovered in time to take the C-1 1000 m bronze medal behind surprise winner

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 C ...

of Mexico and Germany's Andreas Dittmer. Vadja won the gold medal in the same event at the following world championships in

. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, Vajda wore a black armband in dedication to his fallen teammate

György Kolonics György "Kolo" Kolonics (4 June 1972 – 15 July 2008) was a Hungarian sprint canoeist who won two gold and two bronze medals at four Summer Olympics. He also won a record fifteen gold medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. He di ...

and dedicated his C-1 1000 m gold in Kolonics' honor. He would win the

Hungarian Sportsman of The Year Hungarian Sportspeople of the Year awards are granted each year since 1958, with categories for sportsmen, sportswomen, teams, coach (sports), coaches (since 1985) and presidents (since 1995). List of winners Statistics Individual winners ...

for his Beijing win. Vajda won a silver in the C-1 4 × 200 m event at the 2009 championships in Dartmouth. He also won a silver in the C-1 1000 m at the 2010 championships. In June 2015, he competed in the inaugural European Games, for

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, Cr ...

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 s ...

, more specifically, Men's C-1 1000m. He earned a bronze medal.

Awards

HUN Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Rep (civil) Gold BAR

Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Golden Cross (2004) * Hungarian canoer of the Year (8): 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 * Junior Príma award (2007) * HUN Order of Merit of the Hungarian Rep (civil) 4class BAR

HUN Order of Merit of the Hungarian Rep (civil) 4class BAR

Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Officer's Cross (2008) * Hungarian Sportman of the Year (1) - votes of sports journalists: 2008 * Hungarian Athlete of the Year (1) - the National Sports Association (NSSZ) awards: 2008 * Ministerial Certificate of Merit (2012) *

Csongrád County Csongrád ( ro, Ciongrad; tr, Conğrad sr, Чонград, Čongrad, archaically also ''Црноград/Crnograd'') is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary. History At the time of the Hungarian Conquest (the end of 9th century) th ...

Sportman of Year by Délmagyarország (2013)

External links

*
Canoe09.ca profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vajda, Attila 1983 births Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Hungarian male canoeists Living people Olympic canoeists of Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Olympic bronze medalists for Hungary Sportspeople from Szeged Olympic medalists in canoeing Officer's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics European Games medalists in canoeing Canoeists at the 2015 European Games European Games bronze medalists for Hungary

Sponsors

Awards

External links