 Late charge earns win
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-23 10:34
A rower scored Hungary's first gold medal of the Beijing Games yesterday. Attila Sandor Vajda came from behind to win the gold in the Olympic canoe flatwater men's single (C1) 1,000m. Vajda won comfortably in 3 min 50.467 sec. Defending Olympic champion David Cal of Spain took silver in 3:52.751 and Thomas Hall of Canada, who won two pre-Games World Cups, took bronze in 3:53.653. The 25-year-old Hungarian, bronze medalist in Athens and reigning world champion, was in sixth place by the 500m. But a late charge put him in the lead at the 750m and he held on to cross the finish line. The gold, after coming in third four years ago, was vindication for Vajda who could not contain his joy even before getting out of the water. Just as he crossed the finish line, Vajda took a peek over his shoulder to see that nobody was really close. He thrust his fist into the air in celebration, splashed some water with his paddle and bellowed toward the sideline. At the medal ceremony, he hopped up and down and blew kisses to the delight of the crazy fans. "I'm very happy. It's very hard to find words now. It's very hard but in the last 50m I felt I'd won the gold," he said emotionally after the race. "For the first 500m my aim was just to keep the pace with the others then my real race started. I knew David Cal couldn't keep up with me." Vajda dedicated his medal to his late teammate Gyorgy Kolonics, who died during a training session in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. "I tried to compete to honor my former teammate and do the best I can to honor someone who is so great," Vajda said. "I know he is with us from heaven. He holds our hand and helps us mentally." A bronze was clearly a bonus for Canada's Hall. "I'm ecstatic I really don't know what to say, I knew I had the ability but I didn't know if I had it in me today, I feel great," he said. Vadim Menkov of Uzbekistan led by the 500m, but finished in fourth place. Andreas Dittmer of Germany, silver medalist in Athens, came in a disappointing eighth. The German won the C1 500m gold in Athens and also took the C2 1,000m title in Atlanta and the C1 1,000m title in Sydney. The 25-year-old Vajda came in fourth during the C1 500m heats and finished the semifinal in first place but did not get a podium spot. He led the group going into the final of the 1000m event. Agencies (China Daily 08/23/2008 page13) |
