Peter Kauzer, two times Canoe Slalom World Champion, European Champion, Olympic medallist, Overall World Cup series winner, has another award to add to his impressive collection. 34-year-old Slovenian paddler received an award in the Sportsman of the year 2017 category after receiving more votes than German Canoe sprint star Tom Liebscher and legendary Southafrican canoe marathon champion Hank McGregor.
“I was surprised after learning I am amongst the finalists, because looking at the results there were better candidates than me. I am very proud that members of the academy voted for me. To win in a category where all the disciplines are combined is something special. This award is a recognition of all my past successes and confirmation I left a mark in canoeing even before the end of my sporting career,” said Kauzer, who was not present at the ceremony. He is still in Australia for his winter training camp.
Young Czech wildwater athlete Barbora Dimovova (born in 2000) was named Junior of the year and it was not a surprise. She had an excellent year 2017, winning two gold and two silver medals at Junior Wildwater Canoeing World Championships in Murau, Austria. Not only that. She finished fourth in women’s K1 event at Senior Wildwater Sprint World Championships in Pau, was fourth in the 2017 ICF World Cup standings and is currently number 12 in the ICF’s senior world ranking. She is the first World Paddle Award winner coming from Czech Republic and the first one from the wildwater canoeing discipline.
To much satisfaction of Danish canoeing community the Lifetime Achievement award went to the hands of Finn Larsen. “For over 45 years Finn Larsen (1951) has been dedicated to the continual development of canoeing in Denmark. His tireless commitment to the Maribo Kayak Club and the national federation has seen Denmark become one of the leading countries in sprint canoeing today,” was said in the presentation of Finn Larsen, who has now become also a member of the WPA academy. During his year as a coach he has been responsible for many excellent athletes, among them Rene Holten Poulsen, Emma Aastrand Jorgensen, Lars Koch, Bettina Hovmand Larsen and Thomas Christiansen.
Denis Newton from Great Britain celebrated a win in the Foundation award category. British athlete, coach and founder of Athlete Support Programme (ASP) and ADP - World of Champions has an impressive biography. Dennis 'Den' Newton has won over 25 World Championship medals, 30 European Championship medals and multiple national titles. He is the coach behind many famous and successful whitewater champions from around the World, including multiple Canoe Freesytle World Champion Claire O’Hara, and athletes from Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Japan, Canada and America.
Industry Professional Award went to France this year, more exactly to the organisers of the triple World Championships in Pau. Organisational team had a difficult task ahead of them – to prepare a World Championships in three disciplines, canoe slalom, whitewater sprint canoeing and extreme slalom, and they have excelled at it. Over 50.000 spectators attended the championships over the week and enjoyed the canoeing festival held in Pau Wildwater Stadium. It was for the first time in history that World Championships in three canoeing disciplines was organised in the same week at the same venue.
One of the awards was also an award for the European Canoe Association, more precisely for ECA’s media manager Nina Jelenc. She is a freelance journalist and photographer, who works for ECA and Canoe Federation of Slovenia, and has cooperated with ICF and their Planet Canoe magazine as well as with Sportscene. She is the person behind all the social media accounts of ECA – Canoe Europe and Canoe Federation of Slovenia. In addition to that you will be able to find her taking photos, doing interviews with athletes, writing articles and making short video interviews for mentioned Facebook pages, websites and other media.
Both non-European winners of the award are stars of canoeing as well. Jessica Fox, Australian canoe slalom multiple World Champion and Olympic medallist, received a Sportswoman of the year title, while canoe marathon legend Hank McGregor received a special Academy Award and was also inducted into the WPA Academy. Rob Van Bommel, ‘father’ of the WPA, welcomed another new member to the Academy – Ole Torp, founder of Dansprint. There was a special award for Andre Santos, Nelo Kayaks CEO, who has been a supporter of WPA and World’s canoeing and athletes for a long time. Santos received a special watch, a gift from Olympic kayak medallist Mark de Jonge, who runs de Jonge Watch.
WINNERS OF THE 2017 WORLD PADDLE AWARDS
Sportsman: Peter Kauzer (SLO)
Sportswoman: Jessica Fox (AUS)
Junior: Barbora Dimovova (CZE)
Lifetime Achievement: Finn Larsen (DEN)
Foundation Award: Dennis Newton (GBR)
Media Professional: Nina Jelenc (SLO)
Industry Professional: Pau 2017 - ICF World Championships Canoe Slalom and Wildwater Canoeing (FRA)
Academy Award: Hank McGregor (RSA)
PHOTOS: World Paddle Awards
26.2.2018
