Durban — Canoeist Andy Birkett made his return to the international marathon racing stage by winning a gold medal at the men’s 21km marathon event at the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday.
Birkett went toe-to-toe with the Danish world champion Mads Pedersen in extreme heat at the Oak Mountain State Park, and won a thrilling end-sprint to claim the title, said Canoeing South Africa spokesperson Dave Macleod.
Birkett finished eighth in a short course race where he battled asthma but bounced back to win.
“The pace that Mads was setting down was insane! He took the race from a slow, strategic race with a big end-sprint to a fast race, and to be competitive in the end-sprint you have to be there,” Birkett said.
“I had the goal of just trying to stay with him. I don’t think anyone has stuck with him in a race for a while,” he added.
Birkett said this was his first time back in international racing, and he was happy to just be in the mix.
“It is always a privilege to race against the world’s top athletes, and that was my intention here; to try to get back into the mix and feel what it is like. In South Africa we have a lot of races so keeping your motivation for the sport is easy,” he said.
Birkett has won the Dusi Canoe Marathon – the race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban’s Blue Lagoon – 10 times, including this year. In 2018, he completed the national marathon championships at Hazelmere Dam, outside Verulam, where he secured his place in the national team.
Bridgitte Hartley represented South Africa in the women’s races, and placed 13th.
Hartley had travelled to the US full of confidence after a double bronze medal haul at the World Cup in Prague, where she raced to the podium in the marathon and short-course races.
Canoeing SA president Kim Pople said that with the growing popularity of marathon paddling as a spectator sport, the inclusion of marathon canoeing in the World Games programme was a step in the right direction for the sport.
Birkett and Hartley secured the rights to a nomination for Team South Africa’s first marathon canoeing squad by winning their K1 races at the recent Western Cape Marathon Championships.
Daily News