Hamish Lovemore left it late in more ways than one to give South Africa a medal at the 2026 Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Poznan, Poland.
South Africa’s star sprinter equalled his 2025 World Championships haul when he claimed silver in the 5 000m event, the final race of the regatta, and won the B Final of the 1 000m.
In the longer event, as the lead group of four paddlers approached the finish, Lovemore unleashed a devastating end sprint that saw him come from the back of the bunch and overhaul Norway’s Amund Vold as well as his nemesis, Mads Pedersen from Denmark.
While the KZN-resident was just not able to get past Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta, he will be pleased to have convincingly powered past Pedersen, who in the past two years has relegated Lovemore to the second step of the podium in many 5 000m and marathon events when they have raced each over.
Pimenta held off Lovemore’s late charge to triumph in 24:15.72, with Lovemore stopping paddling just before the finish to drift across the line in 24:17.17. Pedersen, who was aiming for a fourth successive title in the 5 000m at the World Championships, had to settle for bronze in a time of 24:18.17.
The OPEX-funded Lovemore also won the B Final of the 1 000m – a small consolation for missing the A Final of the Olympic event after he finished fourth in a brutal semi-final that featured eventual gold and silver medal winners Pimenta and Hungary’s Balint Kopasz.
In other races, former Olympic bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley finished sixth in the B final of the 1 000m and 15th in the 5 000m, while Esti Olivier was seventh in the C Final of the 500m and her eighth in the 200m semi-final was not enough to progress to either of the two finals.
SA TEAM RESULTS
Hamish Lovemore
5 000m: 2nd
1 000m: 1st B Final
Bridgitte Hartley
1 000m: 6th B Final
5 000m: 15th
Esti Olivier
200m: 8th Semi-final
500m: 7th C Final
Photo: Supplied