UPDATE: Georgina Singe grabbed a late bronze medal on Friday evening when she finished third in the women’s U23 race. Slovakian Romana Svecova made the decisive break on the final portage and behind her Singe was unable to get past Dane Sophie Hansen in the dice for the second step of the podium.
GUALEGUAYCHU (Argentina) – South Africa recorded a superb double on day two of the 2026 Canoe Marathon World Championships in Gualeguaychú, Argentina, with Hamish Lovemore and young Keegan Vogt both grabbing gold on Friday evening.
The pair, who are teaming up for Sunday’s senior K2 race, recorded two contrasting victories in the men’s senior short course final and the equivalent junior event respectively.
The short course finals were postponed from the opening day on Thursday after a storm caused a change to the programme, but the delay clearly did not affect the South Africans.
Lovemore was expected to be in a three-way battle for the medals with pre-race favourite, Portuguese sprint star Fernando Pimenta and Denmark’s marathon specialist Mads Pedersen – and so it proved with the three dominanting the three-lap race.
Pimenta used his speed to take control from the start and Pedersen did everything he could to pressurise the Portuguese speedster, but despite Lovemore’s and the Dane’s superior running on the two portages, it came down to a sprint at the end.
Pedersen attacked from a long way out to try and nullify the speed of Pimenta, who reacted and saw off that challenge, only to see Lovemore ease past with a devastating finish sprint. A despondent Pimenta put his paddles down 20 metres from the line allowing Pedersen to cruise past for the silver medal.
“I had a solid race from the start,” said Lovemore after emerging from the water. “I’ve had eight silver medals from various international events over the last three years so nice to get on the top step for a change.”
“Mads and Pimenta were having an absolute battle and I was benefitting by sitting on the wash. I knew I had a good finish and it worked out. I am just so so happy,” said the KwaZulu-Natalian after earning his first World Championship gold medal.
Saturday’s long course races will now see Lovemore promoted to favourite. With Pimenta not paddling that event, Pedersen will be wondering how to counter the all-round ability of the South African who has proven to have a devastating top speed, great portaging and strong tactical nous.
Earlier, Keegan Vogt gave the South African team its first medal of the championships with a perfect and comprehensive breakaway victory in the junior men’s race. Once the action had settled down from the start, the Maritzburg College schoolboy attacked at the second turn, three minutes into the race, and quickly found himself all alone, with a group of three vainly chasing.
The 20m lead at the end of the first portage grew until the double medallist from 2025 crossed the line a solid 13 seconds ahead of the Hungarian Armin Palinkas with Portugal’s Martim Conceicao third.
Other South Africans in action on Friday saw Uli Hart finish 11th in the men’s short course with Jared Shrimption 14th in the junior men’s. In the women’s short course Bridgitte Hartley was 18th, while Hanna Solomon was 11th and Sydney Williams 15th in junior women’s race.
The junior women’s as well as the men’s and women’s U23 long course races are due to take place later tonight SA time.
