Rising 20-year-old paddler Natalia Drobot has started the international Canoe Sprint World Cup season with bronze in the women's K1 500m (Olympic distance) and silver in the women's K1 200m.
Competing in Szeged, Hungary, first came the bronze on Saturday and silver on Sunday.
“I think it’s really nice to put all of the hard work into a good race and to come out with a good result,” Natalia said after the K1 500m bronze.
“It’s been a really good season so far…eight months of good, hard training with the girls and I’m just stoked to be on the podium,” she said.
Having been a member of the Senior Australian Canoe Sprint team for World Championships in the Paris Olympic cycle, Natalia said her sights are firmly set on one goal for the next four years ... the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
“This is definitely not the end, it’s year one (of the new Olympic cycle), so it’s just the start. I’m looking forward to the next few years,” she said.
A photo finish in the K1 200m semi-finals saw Natalia just creep through into the A Final, before leaving it all on the water, crossing the line in a time of 43.98 behind Anna Pulawska of Poland.
The Senior Australian Canoe Sprint Team will now head to Poznan, Poland for the 2025 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Cup on 22-25 May 2025.
