Attila Vajda (born 17 March 1983) is a Hungarian sprint canoeist who has competed since the early 2000s. Competing in three Summer Olympics (04, 08, 12) he has won two medals in the C-1 1000 m event with a gold in 2008 and a bronze in 2004.
Vajda was a European junior champion in 2000, winning the Canadian canoe C-2 1000 m title with Démász-Szeged team-mate Márton Joób in Boulogne, France. In 2002 the pair came second at the European under-23 championships in Zagreb, Croatia in the same event.
Hungarian coach Zoltán Angyal 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 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's David Cal and Germany's Andreas Dittmer, but beat out 1996 Olympic champion Martin Doktor 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. 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. He recovered in time to take the C-1 1000 m bronze medal behind surprise winner Everardo Cristóbal of Mexico and Germany's Andreas Dittmer. Vadja won the gold medal in the same event at the following world championships in Duisburg.
Ben Fouhy is a New Zealand flatwater and marathon canoeist who has been competing since the early 2000s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he won the silver in the K-1 1000 m event at Athens in 2004, as well as finishing fourth in the 2008 Olympics and ninth in the 2012 Olympics in the same event. He is the recipient of the 2003 Halberg Award for NZ Sportsman of the Year and a former world record holder in the K1 1000m event.
Stephen Giles is a Canadian sprint canoeist who competed from the early 1990s to the mid 2000s. Competing in four Summer Olympics, he won the bronze in the C-1 1000 m event at Sydney in 2000.
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Thomas Hall, is an Olympic sprint canoeist from Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada. Training with the Pointe-Claire Canoe Club, he began his international career in 1999, winning a gold medal in the C-1 1000 m event at the Junior World Championships. By the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics, he had made a total of 44 top three finishes in international canoeing competitions, including 14 wins. Among these were a gold and a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games. At the Beijing Olympic Games, he won a bronze medal in the Men's C-1 1000 metres event.
Márton Metka is a Hungarian sprint canoer who has competed since 2007. He won a bronze medal in the C-4 1000 m event at the 2007 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg.
Ákos Angyal is a Hungarian sprint canoer who competed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won a silver medal in the K-4 10000 m event at the 1989 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Plovdiv and a bronze medal in the K-2 1000 m event at the 1991 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Paris.
Anton Vasilev is a Russian sprint canoeist who has competed since the late 2000s. He won a gold medal in the K-4 1000 m event at the 2013 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg and two bronze medals in the K-4 200 m event at the 2007 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg and in the K-4 1000 m event at the 2011 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged.
Márton Joób is a Hungarian sprint canoeist and a politician. He is married to Dóra, and they has 11 children.
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