Czech Canoe Union awarded the best athletes of the year 2023. With many medals from World and European Championships in different disciplines it was not an easy task to decide who will get the main award and be named paddler of the year. At the end, Martin Fuksa, the 2023 World and European Champion took the win ahead of canoe slalom paddlers Jiri Prskavec and Vit Prindiš.
Martin Fuksa had a very memorable year 2023. He became World Champion in men's C1 1000 metres event in Duisburg, which is his first senior World Championships gold medal in 1000 metres race. In addition, he won at the European Games in 500 metres event and won two gold medals at World Cup races. "My greatest joy this year was the birth of my daughter and the fact that I have a great functioning family. It's a nice end for me after this successful season and I'm glad that I could get this award again after five years. This year I became world champion in the Olympic kilometre event, which I have never done before, so the most valuable medals are definitely from this year. But I appreciate every season, every year is great and I hope it will continue for a few more years," said Martin Fuksa, who also took third place among the teams with his brother Petr.
Jiri Prskavec, Canoe Slalom European Champion and vice-World Champion, and Vit Prindiš, overall World Cup series winner in 2023, came in second and third respectively.
Team of the year award went to the hands of Jiri Prskavec, Vit Prindiš and Jakub Krejči, the men's kayak team canoe slalom World Champions.
Bara Galuškova was named best junior of the year, best whitewater canoeing paddler in 2023 was Marie Nemcova, Katerina Milova received an award for canoe marathon personality of the year and František Košina received an award in tourism category.
Czech Canoe Union also celebrated 110 years of its foundation, and in the evening the documentary 110 Years: The Story of Czech Canoeing had a premiere.
"This year's season was important for the Czech team, especially with regard to Olympic qualification. This mission worked out practically perfectly for us. Four guaranteed quotas in canoe slalom and five places for canoe sprint is definitely a great success for the Czech Canoe Union, while the representatives will be able to fight for several remaining places next year," said the president of the Czech Canoe Union Stanislav Ježek. "I am glad that we could celebrate this year's 110-year anniversary with a whole series of medals from top international events. Once again, we managed to prove that the Czech Republic is among the very best in the world, whether in canoe sprint, canoe slalom, marathon or wildwater canoeing. I congratulate all the awardees and keep my fingers crossed for the upcoming Olympic season," added Ježek.
10.1.2024
