The Post-Olympic World Championships in kayaking and canoeing were held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 23 to 25 August. The tournament was notable for the fact that Russian athletes also participated, albeit under a neutral flag and in a larger number than at the 2024 Olympic Games.
At the end of the three-day World Championships, Russian athletes won five medals, four of which were gold and one silver.
In Samarkand the following distinguished themselves:
Sofia Shtil, Ekaterina Shlyapnikova, Zakhar Petrov and Ivan Shtyl in four mixed canoe at 500 m (gold) Alexey Korovashkov and Ekaterina Shlyapnikova in double mixed canoe at 500 m (gold); Anastasia Dolgova in single kayak at 200 m (). silver Svetlana Chernigovskaya and Anastasia Dolgova in double kayak 200 meters (gold); Zakhar Petrov and Ivan Dmitriev in double canoe 1000 meters (gold);
Anastasia Dolgová
Photo by: RIA Novosti
Just like at the Olympics, there were no Russians in the medal table at the World Championships, only neutral athletes. But if we add our tricolor to the table, it will be in second place. And above it there are only other neutral athletes from Belarus. Our neighbours also won four gold medals, but beat the Russians in silver and bronze (4 – 4 – 3). They would be the first.
However, the most striking episode of the World Cup in Samarkand for Russian fans is not one of the four gold awards listed above, but a victory that did not take place. Cancelled by decision of the panel of judges.
It was in the final of the 500-meter single canoe competition, where Russia was represented by Zakhar Petrov. Zakhar fought for the lead until the last meters of the distance, and in the end he overexerted himself so much that… he capsized. At the same time, the bow of the Russian boat crossed the finish line faster than all the others.
A difficult question that the judges had to answer to determine the champion: did the athlete finish with his canoe? In other words: did Petrov fall out of the boat at the finish or not yet?
World Kayak and Canoe Championships
Photo: images from the broadcast.
Initially, Petrov was deprived of the gold medal. The judges simply struck Petrov out of the final protocol. He fell out of the boat a few centimetres before the finish line, and the first place was taken by Moldovan Sergei Tarnovsky. The Russian side, of course, was not satisfied with this decision. Our rowing federation lodged a protest and, unexpectedly for everyone, was satisfied.
This victory at the World Championships could have gone down in the history of world rowing, but probably someone else lodged a protest and the result was revised again. In the final protocol, Zakhar again found himself in last place as a non-finalist, but among the top three: Moldova, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Zakhar Petrov was left without a medal at the Olympic Games:
What is this! The Russian canoeist fought for a medal, but the Brazilian came out of somewhere
“We must fight to the end. As it will be, so it will be. To say that Macron first imprisoned Durov and then interfered with the distribution of prizes in Samarkand is the last straw,” said Dmitry Guberniev, a Match TV commentator who follows the national rowing closely. “There really is a borderline situation. Another thing is that people break the rules. The jury has already decided that we will be awarded gold. This decision cannot be reversed. They themselves did not care about their own regulations.”
The Russian side lodged a second protest, but was no longer satisfied. The jury placed Zakhar Petrov last. Unfortunately, the Russian rower’s unique victory in reverse did not work out. Of course, you can complain about the result and about bad judges. However, it cannot be denied that such stories contribute even more to popularizing Russian rowing than other victories. At least over the past month, Zakhar Petrov unexpectedly became one of the brightest stars of our sport.
Zakhar Petrov – on his performance at the Paris Games:
“In the last few metres you can no longer raise your arms.” Rower Petrov – on the Olympic final
