Hungary, Russia dominate 2010 ICF Dragonboat World Championships

Hungary dominated the final day of the 2010 ICF Dragonboat World Championships in Szeged, Hungary on Sunday, beating traditional rivals Russia into second place in the medal table.

In the senior events, Hungary won six golds on Sunday to finish the championships with a total of eight gold medals ahead of Russia who won four golds in total.

The regatta also included junior and masters events, the latter for older competitors, as well as amateur races for clubs, organisations, and companies.

Thousands of spectators lined the 2-kilometer long course outside Szeged to watch the championships which began on August 27. Almost 3,000 participants from 15 countries attended the championships.

"The atmosphere over the last three days has been unbelievable," said Peter Remenyi, manager of the Hungarian team. "I'm very satisfied with our team's performance and proud of the eight gold medals."

Etele Barath, president of the Hungarian Canoe-Kajak Federation, said his goals had been met during the world championships.

"As an official world championship, of course we wanted to get as many gold medals as possible, but we had to fight mighty battles, particularly with the Russians and Germans, to do so."

The races are between 20 seat dragonboats in 200m, 500m, and 2,000m categories in both men's and women's events, as well as mixed events in which 12 men and 8 women comprise a team.

This year's regatta in the Olympic course in Szeged, the biggest event in the International Canoe Federation (ICF)'s calendar, also included 10 seater events for the first time. Dragonboat racing is an official canoe discipline although not yet an Olympic event.

Francois Ryffel, chairman of the Dragon Boat Racing Committee of the ICF said it was unsure when the dragonboat racing could become an Olympic sport.

"Perhaps with the 10-seater boats we introduced now in Szeged, there will be one day a chance to go into the Olympics."

Source: Xinhua