Hamish Lovemore further underlined his status as one of the world’s stars of the future by winning silver in the K1 long distance marathon event at The World Games in Chengdu, China.
His second silver medial in two days doubled his and Team SA’s medal tally, proving that he is well on course to be one of canoeing’s greats and a South African sporting star. The World Games is the first of three major assignments for the rising superstar as he prepares for next week’s World Sprint Championships, and the World Marathon Championships next month … and contemplates a long-term goal of the next Olympics in Los Angeles in three years time.
Sunday’s marathon event had a similar story to Saturday’s short course final. The 25-year-old, who came second in that 3.4km event on Saturday when he narrowly lost a sprint finish against Dane Mads Pedersen, once again pulled away with Pederson early in Sunday’s showdown.
The pair were never separated in the 21km race until the final 200m, when Lovemore tried to climb over the wave but could not get on level terms with the reigning World Marathon Champion, and Pedersen was able to ease away as they sprinted for the finish.
When they crossed the line for the final time, they settled their canoes side by side and shared a friendly moment of respect and acknowledgement. Saturday had shown the gap in class between them and the rest, but Sunday affirmed that the disparity was no one-off. The South African finished in 1hr 35min 39.17sec which was 46 seconds ahead of the third-placed boat. His performance brings overwhelming excitement for what his future holds.
Next weekend Lovemore will hope to repeat his medal-winning performance from the season’s opening World Cup event in Italy, and then focus on the World Marathon Championships in Hungary, where it seems almost certain he will lock horns once again with Pederson in the short course and long course K1 races.
When the LA Olympics takes place in 2028, Lovemore will be the age Pedersen is now. It is easy to imagine the huge success that his future holds, however, imagining a limit on the extent to that success is close to impossible. He is already one of South Africa’s finest athletes and is hurtling towards being SA’s best of his generation.
Saskia Hockly finished ninth in the long race and 10th in her heat in the short race and was ranked 17th overall.
Full results here (canoeing listed under “Trend Sports”)