ICF SUP World Championships, Oct 24-27th – Qingdao (China)

by Ross Solly

Olympic and world champion among nearly 200 entries for SUP world titles

Entries for this month’s ICF stand up paddling world championships in China are climbing towards 200, with three-time Olympic gold medalist Sebastian Brendel and four-time canoe marathon world champion Marton Kover among the athletes already confirmed.

All five continents will be represented in Qingdao, with close to 40 countries already entered. Egypt, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, Estonia, Brazil, Canada, USA and Israel are just some of the nations who will have athletes vying for the right to be crowned ICF SUP world champion.

Every continent will be well represented. The host nation will have plenty of support from its Asian neighbours. Hong Kong China, Macau China, Japan, Philippines and Korea have all entered athletes, while the Americas list include athletes from Canada, USA, Brazil and Argentine.

The Qingdao start list is packed with world and European sup champions, along with Olympic and world champions in other canoeing disciplines.

Hungary’s Kover has been a dominant force in men’s canoe marathon for almost a decade, stringing together four C1 titles and teaming up with Adam Docze to win four consecutive men’s C2 world titles for Hungary between 2014 to 2017.

Brendel has been the face of men’s canoe sprint since winning C1 1000 Olympic gold in London in 2012. He defended his title in Rio in 2016, and also won C2 1000 with Jan Vendrey. He also has 11 individual C1 world titles, ranging in distance from 500 to 5000 metres.

How Brendel and Kover fare against seasoned sup paddlers like Australia’s Michael Booth and USA’s Connor Baxter will be one of the many highlights of what is set to ben an exciting world championships.

The women’s start list includes Serbia’s Kristina Bedec, a two-time canoe marathon world championship bronze medalist, who will be taking on world leaders Fiona Wylde, Sonja Honscheid and Olivia Piana in the women’s events.

The 2019 ICF stand up paddling world championships will be held in Qingdao, China, from October 24-27. Along with sprint, technical and long distance races, there will also be an inflatable race as well as juniors and masters events.

Tags: connor baxter, Fiona Wylde, ICF SUP World Championships, Marton Kover, Michael Booth, olivia piana, Sonja Honscheid