After 500 meters of maximum effort, a big smile lit up her face. “I celebrated at the finish line, but then I realized that I wasn’t sure how many times I had finished,” she admitted. In a dramatic finish, she finished second, six hundredths of a second behind Ukrainian Maria Povchová. Slovenia’s Anja Ostermanová was another 36 hundredths behind her, but there were only two places among female kayakers.
“I’m excited. It was my hardest race, I can’t process it in myself, I don’t believe that as a downhill skier I was able to nominate myself in speed canoeing,” beamed the twenty-five-year-old Paloudová, who for many years dedicated herself to whitewater downhill skiing in Český Krumlov and switched to calm water skiing only five years ago flights.
“I started speed canoeing at the same time as college. I’m finishing here now, with canoeing I hope I’ve only really started my speed career,” she smiled. However, even Dostál appreciated her efforts. “It’s amazing how she was able to combine the finish at school with the preparation for the Olympic qualification,” he chuckled.
And he was the first to be congratulated in Szeged, because the World Cup awaits him at the same place from Thursday, where he needs to confirm the Olympic nomination, which should be a formality given his qualities.
“We’re talking about paddling. And now that we will probably go to the Olympics together, it will be the topic of our conversations more often,” the former whitewater downhill champion suspects.
Photo: Kanoe.cz/Anna Navrátilová
The joy of kayaker Anežka Paloudová from the Olympic nomination
And her “wild” past came in handy even in difficult conditions in Szeged. “I have a bit of a problem with stability in a speed kayak, but as a downhill skier I don’t mind any conditions or waves, which is at least my mental advantage when I can say that these conditions suit me,” she knows.
In the pre-qualification, representatives of countries that did not qualify from last year’s World Championship in Duisburg fought for the last free places at the Olympics. But they were joined by representatives of Russia and Belarus, who could not start last year, and today they won all the disciplines except the women’s single kayak.
After all, Paloudová started between rivals from Russia and Belarus, leaving both of them behind. “I don’t want to judge individual people, I don’t know their story and mindset, but it was clear that it was going to be a big fight. I went into it very nervous, but I was able to cope with it very well,” she could boast.
The last time Czech speed canoeists competed in Beijing 2008 was Jana Blahová with Michala Mrůzková, also a former white water skier.
In Paris, Paloudová and Dostála should be joined by Daniel Havel and Jakub Špicar in the double kayak, and among the canoeists, Martin Fuksa in the single and, together with his brother Petr, also in the double. However, the nominal nomination has not yet been definitively confirmed.
2024-05-09 16:22:31
#Parisian #romance #water #star #Dostál #partner #Olympics
