STA, 25 September 2021 - Slovenian kayaker Nejc Žnidaršič won the sprint event at the ICF's wildwater canoeing world championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Sunday to claim his fifth world champion title.
Žnidaršič finished 0.56 seconds ahead of France's Luca Barone, while another French, Maxence Barouh, won bronze. Slovenia's Anže Urankar placed fourth.
He made history by becoming the first whitewater competitor to win five world champion titles, which he said he was proud of.
"World championships have been on since 1952, but never has anyone become world champion for five times," the 37-year-old said.
He does not regret his sport not being an Olympic sport. "I want to do things that are fun. And if you are best at it, then I really see no problem."
This year's victory was more convincing that the previous, from two years ago, when he won by a mere hundredth.
He described the run as superb: "This was an optimal run, at least on this course," he said, attributing it partly to his vast experience.
