Attila Vajda (born 17 March 1983) is a Hungarian

sprint canoeist Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today ...

who has competed since the early 2000s. Competing in three

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

(04, 08, 12) he has won two medals in the C-1 1000 m event with a gold in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and a bronze in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Vajda was a European junior champion in 2000, winning the

Canadian canoe Canadian is the byname used in some countries for the descendants of the birch bark canoe that was used by the indigenous peoples of Northern America as a convenient means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of No ...

C-2 1000 m title with Démász-Szeged team-mate

Márton Joób Márton Joób (born 24 June 1982 in Szeged) is a Hungarian sprint canoeist and a politician. He is married to Dóra, and they have 11 children. Sports career As an athlete he has competed since 2003. He won four medals at the ICF Ca ...

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

, France. In 2002 the pair came second at the European under-23 championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Croatia in the same event. Hungarian coach

Zoltán Angyal Zoltán Angyal is a Hungarian sprint canoer who competed in the early 1970s. He won a silver medal in the K-1 4 x 500 m event at the 1973 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capi ...

was confident of Vajda's ability but took the decision not to give him his senior international debut in 2002 or 2003. In 2004, Angyal was still keeping his cards close to his chest. The Hungarian team did not take part in the early season international regattas: at the European Championships Hungary was represented in the C-1 races by Márton Joób and Sándor Malomsoki. Angyal then shocked his rival coaches by selecting Vajda as his "secret weapon" for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in the C-1 1000 m event. In his initial heat with a time of 3:57.290, Vajda qualified for the semifinals. There, he placed second, this time at 3:52.236, advancing to the final round. Vajda won a bronze in the event behind

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

David Cal David Cal Figueroa (born 10 October 1982) is a Spanish sprint canoeist who has competed since 1999. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he has won five medals with a gold (C-1 1000 m: 2004 Summer Olympics) and four silvers (C-1 500 m: 2004, 2 ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Andreas Dittmer Andreas Dittmer (born 16 April 1972 in Neustrelitz, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a German sprint canoeist. The dominant sprint canoeist of his generation in 1000 m races, he has won three Olympic and eight world championship gold medals. Dittmer wo ...

, but beat out 1996 Olympic champion

Martin Doktor Martin Doktor (; born 21 May 1974 in Polička, Czechoslovakia) is the Czech Republic's best-known sprint canoeist. He was double Olympic champion in the Canadian canoe C-1 discipline at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. ...

with a time of 3:49.025. Hungary is one of the few countries in the world where sprint canoeists have the status of stars known to the general public and Vajda suddenly found himself the new "golden boy" of Hungarian canoeing. His performances in 2005 suffered as a result of these distractions; he started the season overweight and failed to make the podium in any major international race. In 2006 he won the national title over all three distances and, in May, beat a top-class international field at

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

. Injury prevented him from appearing at the European championships, but he was determined not to miss the 2006 World Championships, held in his hometown of

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

. He recovered in time to take the C-1 1000 m bronze medal behind surprise winner

Everardo Cristóbal José Everardo Cristóbal Quirino (born August 11, 1986) is a Mexican sprint canoeist who has been competing since 2005. His first successful international performance was in 2006, when he won the gold medal in C-1 1000 m and the silver medal i ...

of Mexico and Germany's Andreas Dittmer. Vadja won the gold medal in the same event at the following world championships in

. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Vajda wore a black armband in dedication to his fallen teammate

György Kolonics György "Kolo" Kolonics (4 June 1972 – 15 July 2008) was a Hungarian sprint canoeist who won two gold and two bronze medals at four Summer Olympics. He also won a record fifteen gold medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. He die ...

and dedicated his C-1 1000 m gold in Kolonics' honor. He would win the

Hungarian Sportsman of The Year Hungarian Sportspeople of the Year () awards are granted each year since 1958, with categories for sportsmen, sportswomen, teams, coach (sports), coaches (since 1985) and presidents (since 1995). List of winners Statistics Individual winn ...

for his Beijing win. Vajda won a silver in the C-1 4 × 200 m event at the 2009 championships in Dartmouth. He also won a silver in the C-1 1000 m at the 2010 championships. In June 2015, he competed in the inaugural European Games, for

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

canoe sprint Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today ...

, more specifically, Men's C-1 1000m. He earned a bronze medal.

Awards

* Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Golden Cross (2004) * Hungarian canoer of the Year (8): 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 * Junior Príma award (2007) * Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Officer's Cross (2008) * Hungarian Sportman of the Year (1) - votes of sports journalists: 2008 * Hungarian Athlete of the Year (1) - the National Sports Association (NSSZ) awards: 2008 * Ministerial Certificate of Merit (2012) *

Csongrád County Csongrád (; , archaically also ''Црноград/Crnograd,'' ) is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary. History At the time of the Hungarian Conquest (the end of 9th century) the Maros Valley was under Bulgarian control. The fortre ...

Sportman of Year by Délmagyarország (2013)

External links

*
Canoe09.ca profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vajda, Attila 1983 births Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Hungarian male canoeists Living people Olympic canoeists for Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Olympic bronze medalists for Hungary Sportspeople from Szeged Olympic medalists in canoeing Officer's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics European Games medalists in canoeing Canoeists at the 2015 European Games European Games bronze medalists for Hungary 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen

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