Women’s K4 Win Bronze Medal in Paris

Alida Dóra Gazsó, Tamara Csipes, Sára Fojt and Noémi Pupp (L-R)

The Hungarian women’s kayak quartet won the bronze medal in the 500m at the Paris Olympics with a superb performance.

The boat, consisting of Noémi Pupp, Sára Fojt, Tamara Csipes and Dóra Alida Gazsó, finished second in the preliminary heat on Tuesday and went straight through to Thursday’s final.

In this event, Hungary was the defending champion, but only Csipes remained from the team of three years ago, the other three competitors being Olympic rookies.

The fresh team won the European championship in Szeged in June, but there they had little serious competition. In Tokyo, Belarus finished second behind the Hungarians, but they were not in the field this time, while the Poles were third three years ago, with two replacements. The New Zealanders had missed out on the podium then, but as defending World Cup champions they were the biggest favorites to win. Their captain Lisa Carrington led her team as five-time Olympic champion. The Spanish, last year’s World Cup bronze medalists, were also a serious force, as were the always strong Germans.

The Hungarians had a mediocre start, finishing fifth in the first half of the race, but were third at the halfway mark, a position they maintained in a very competitive race.

The fact that they may even have exceeded their own expectations was clearly visible on their faces after crossing the finish line.

The top two places went to New Zealand and Germany.

The women’s quartet won the Hungarian team’s ninth medal – third bronze – at the Paris Olympics.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Kovács Tamás