ACOG - News - IBM

(19 July 1996)

Sprint Canoe / Kayak Events Set for Lake Lanier

While their slalom counterparts battle the raging waters in Tennessee, the sprint canoe kayak teams meet in Gainesville, Ga., set to race on Lake Lanier, home also to the Olympic rowing competition. The 350 paddlers (238 men, 112 women) that are ready to meet on 30 July hail from 47 countries and will compete in 12 flatwater medal events.

The sprint competition is held on a 1000m course, with races in 500m and 1000m lengths. Men will compete in both canoe and kayak events while the women will match their skills in kayak only. Although strength and endurance enhance the sprinters performance, the main catalyst for the paddlers' success is speed. Athlete versus athlete is the format for the sprint canoe / kayak Olympic competition.

The 1992 Olympic Games watched Germany and Hungry state their own domination in the sport capturing six and five medals, respectively. Rita KOBAN of Hungry maintains her country's domination in the sprint events. In 1992, KOBAN won the silver medal in the K1 500m event, gold in the K4 500m and bronze in the K2 500m. KOBAN returns to Olympic competition as the force in the sprint events.

Norway's Knut HOLMANN is the one to watch in the kayak single races. The 1992 silver medalist captured the gold at the 1995 World Championships and plans to repeat the top performance in Olympic competition. HOLMANN will need to dethrone 1992 gold medalist Clint ROBINSON of Australia, who finished second to the Norwegian at the World Championships.

Germans Kay BLUHM and Torsten GUTSCHE return to defend their 1992 gold medal in the men's K2 1000m event but will need fend off the 1995 World Championship Italian team of Antonio ROSSI and Daniele SCARPA.

Canoeist Nikolai BUHALOV of Bulgaria dominated the flatwater canoe events in 1992 taking the gold in both the 500m and 1000m races - and he plans to do just the same in Atlanta. A good indication this will happen was BUHALOV's top finish at the World Championships.

The sprint canoe/kayak events are scheduled to begin on 30 July with preliminaries in the following events: K1 1000m, K2 1000m, K4 500m, K4 1000m, C1 1000m and C2 1000m.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Lynne Bragg.



Olympic Factoid
Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park.