Hungary left its mark on the World Cup in Brandenburg an der Havel: seven victories and a strong message ahead of the rest of the season
The Hungarian national team was one of the most prominent stories of the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Cup in Brandenburg an der Havel, held from 14 to 17 May 2026. According to official data from the International Canoe Federation, the competition was held at the Beetzsee regatta course in Germany and brought together some of the strongest names in Olympic and Paralympic sprint. Hungary's performance stood out especially for the breadth of its results: victories came in individual events, crews and long-distance races, with important placings in Olympic disciplines that carry weight in the cycle toward Los Angeles 2028. Balint Kopasz, Agnes Anna Kiss, Zsofia Katalin Csorba, Balazs Adolf and Sandor Totka were in the foreground, names that give the Hungarian national team a combination of experience, world titles and Olympic pedigree. In its preview of the Brandenburg competition, the ICF stated that Olympic and Paralympic points were also at stake there, which gave the results additional sporting importance.
Kopasz withstood the wind, rain and pressure from rivals
One of the central races of the Hungarian weekend was the men's K1 1000 metres, in which Balint Kopasz once again confirmed his status as one of the most consistent kayakers over middle and long sprint distances. According to the ICF report, the third day of competition was marked by strong crosswinds and rain, and precisely such conditions made his victory especially valuable. In the final, Kopasz was under pressure from South African Hamish Lovemore, who maintained a high rhythm for a long time from the outside lane, but the Hungarian kayaker completed the finish strongly enough for first place. The ICF announced that Kopasz won in a time of 3:35.23, ahead of Lovemore with 3:36.04 and Australia's Thomas Green with 3:36.52. After the race, Kopasz, according to the ICF, said that he was very tired and that it had been one of his hardest races because of strong opponents and difficult weather conditions.
Kopasz's victory also had a broader context because he is an athlete who has long been among the benchmarks of the discipline. In an earlier preview of the Hungarian national team for the May World Cup series, the ICF pointed out that Kopasz is the reigning world champion and Olympic winner from Tokyo 2020. He arrived in Brandenburg after the start of the season in Szeged, where the Hungarian selection also showed strength, and the German stop brought a new test in different conditions and in front of the home crowd of Germany's leading contenders. Such circumstances increase the value of the victory because athletes in sprint, especially over one thousand metres, must control rhythm, technique and reaction to changes in wind equally well. In that race, Kopasz demonstrated exactly what is needed in the qualification cycle: the ability to win even when conditions are not ideal.
Kiss and Totka delivered individual golds
Agnes Anna Kiss won gold in the C1 500 metres, another important Hungarian victory in Brandenburg an der Havel. According to the ICF report, China's Mengya Sun was very strong in the final part of the race, but Kiss managed to turn the balance of power around and cross the finish line first. The official result lists victory for the Hungarian in a time of 2:12.30, ahead of Sun with 2:13.48 and Canada's Sophia Jensen with 2:13.64. It was a continuation of a good run for Kiss, who had also won the C2 500 metres a day earlier together with Bianka Nagy. After that race, the ICF carried her statement that focus was the key to gold, with the note that women's canoe has strengthened considerably in recent years and that the level of competition is constantly rising.
Sandor Totka, the Olympic winner from Tokyo 2020 in the K1 200 metres, returned Hungarian sprint to the top step of the podium in a discipline decided by hundredths of a second. According to the ICF, the K1 200 metres final in Brandenburg an der Havel was extremely close because only ten hundredths of a second separated the first three finishers. Totka started from lane nine and won in a time of 35.10, ahead of Slovenia's Matevž Manfreda, who had 35.18, and Portugal's Messias Baptista with 35.20. Hungarian media, citing the MTI report, further emphasized that Totka competed in Germany on the international stage in that discipline for the first time this season after his Olympic gold in Tokyo. For the Hungarian national team, that victory is important because the 200-metre sprint requires a different profile from races over 500 and 1000 metres, so gold in that discipline confirms the team's versatility.
Csorba and Adolf rounded off Hungary's effect over 5000 metres
The final day brought Hungarian dominance in the canoe races over 5000 metres. Zsofia Katalin Csorba won the women's C1 5000 metres after a very close battle with Chile's María José Mailliard. The ICF announced that Csorba celebrated with a time of 28:50.49, while Mailliard was 0.75 seconds behind and finished in 28:51.24. Bronze went to Moldova's Elena Glizan with 29:06.86. After the race, Csorba, according to the ICF, said that the victory this time was not clean and easy and that Mailliard offered very strong resistance. That detail shows that the long distance was not only a matter of endurance but also a tactical response to an opponent who remained in contention for first place until the very end.
Balazs Adolf won the men's C1 5000 metres and thereby completed Hungary's double success in the long canoe disciplines. According to the official ICF report, Adolf reached gold in a time of 24:27.96, ahead of Spain's Jaime Duro, the winner from Szeged, who finished with 24:40.10. Third place was won by Moldova's Serghei Tarnovschi with 24:43.81. In its preview of the Hungarian national team, the ICF recalled that Adolf is a world champion and that in May he had been entered both for the C1 1000 metres and for the C1 5000 metres, which emphasized his importance in the more endurance-based canoe disciplines. In the context of Brandenburg an der Havel, his gold further strengthened the impression that Hungary did not depend on one or two individuals, but on a broad group of athletes capable of top results in different formats.
Crews confirmed the depth of the national team
Hungary achieved an important part of its success in crews as well. In the women's C2 500 metres, Agnes Anna Kiss and Bianka Nagy defeated the Chinese duo Mengya Sun and Yanan Ma by 0.11 seconds, according to the ICF report. Although the Chinese competitors initially thought they had won, the official result belonged to the Hungarian crew with a time of 1:55.57. Sun and Ma won silver, and the Spanish duo Angels Moreno and Viktoria Yarchevska bronze. That victory carried special weight because it was achieved against Chinese competition which, according to the ICF, had entered the season very strongly and had high expectations in Brandenburg an der Havel.
In the men's K2 500 metres, Levente Kurucz and Bence Fodor brought Hungary another gold, and they did so in front of the German crowd. The ICF stated that the Hungarians won in a time of 1:35.77, ahead of the German crew of Max Rendschmidt and Tom Liebscher-Lucz, who finished with 1:36.18, while Australians Pierre van der Westhuyzen and Jean van der Westhuyzen were third. After the race, Fodor, according to the ICF, said that they especially wanted to beat Germany because a week earlier they had lost to the German rivals in Szeged. Such a sporting context gave the race additional tension: it was a direct measuring of two traditionally strong kayaking schools, with different outcomes only a few days apart. For the Hungarian K2, the success is also important because it relates to an Olympic discipline in which details in synchronization, rhythm and the exit from the start often decide the order.
Germany used the home course, but Hungary remained among the main stories
The host had its own reasons for satisfaction, especially in the men's and women's kayak crews. The ICF reported that Max Rendschmidt, Max Lemke, Jacob Schopf and Tom Liebscher-Lucz won the men's K4 500 metres in a time of 1:20.42, ahead of Hungary and Australia. Only a week earlier, the German Olympic champions had remained without a medal in Szeged, so the return on home waters was important for their season. German kayaker Max Lemke said, according to the ICF, that knowing the Brandenburg course is an advantage for them and that the result brings them confidence. In the women's K2 500 metres, Paulina Paszek and Pauline Jagsch also delighted the home crowd with a second consecutive World Cup title, confirming that Germany in Brandenburg an der Havel was not only the organizer, but also one of the sporting pillars of the competition.
Nevertheless, Hungary's overall effect remained one of the main themes because there were golds in individual and team races, in men's and women's competition, over short, middle and long distances. Such a distribution of results shows what is often more important in sprint than a single individual flash: the systematic depth of the national team. In its preview of the Hungarian squad for May, the ICF stated that Hungary had entered 48 athletes, combining Olympic champions, world medallists and younger competitors. In Brandenburg an der Havel, that combination proved competitive in very different conditions, from calmer finals to races marked by crosswinds and rain. Hungary, moreover, did not have only winners, but also a series of additional podium placings, including silver in the men's K4 500 metres and bronze in the men's C2 500 metres.
A competition with a view toward Los Angeles 2028
The Brandenburg stop was part of the broader early part of the season in which the pressure of the new Olympic cycle is already being felt. According to the ICF, the competition in Germany brought Olympic and Paralympic points toward Los Angeles 2028, while a week earlier Szeged was the first ICF World Cup stop that counted for the Olympic ranking in the new cycle. This means that the results from May 2026 are not merely a check of form after winter preparation, but also early steps toward positioning national teams for the next major period. In that framework, Hungary's seven victories carry additional weight because they show that already at the start of the cycle the national team is among the most broadly built selections in sprint.
At the same time, the competition confirmed that the international scene is expanding and that victories no longer come only from traditional European centres. In Brandenburg an der Havel, golds were also won by New Zealand, China, Brazil, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Uzbekistan and neutral athletes, while the paracanoe part of the programme brought returns by major Paralympic names. Ahead of the competition, the ICF especially singled out the return of Australia's four-time Paralympic champion Curtis McGrath and Britain's three-time Paralympic winner Emma Wiggs, who returned to international appearances after longer breaks. Such a composition of the competition shows that Brandenburg was more than an ordinary World Cup stop: it was an early test of the strength, depth and resilience of national teams in the Olympic and Paralympic cycle.
For Hungary, the most important message from Germany is clear: the national team has more trump cards than can be reduced to one name or one discipline. Kopasz brought authority in the K1 1000 metres, Totka speed in the 200-metre sprint, Kiss stability in the canoe disciplines, Csorba endurance over 5000 metres, and Adolf confirmation of class in the men's canoe over the long distance. In crews, Kurucz, Fodor, Kiss and Nagy showed that Hungarian strength is not limited to individual races. According to the available official results and ICF reports, the Brandenburg weekend therefore remains one of the most convincing Hungarian performances in the season so far, with an effect that rivals will have to take seriously in the continuation of the World Cup and toward the world championships in Poznań at the end of August 2026.
Sources:
- International Canoe Federation – official competition page for the 2026 ICF Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe World Cup Brandenburg, with dates, location and a link to results (link)
- International Canoe Federation – report on the victories of Aimee Fisher, Balint Kopasz, Agnes Anna Kiss and Sandor Totka in Brandenburg an der Havel (link)
- International Canoe Federation – report on the final day, the victory of the Hungarian K2 500 m and the golds of Zsofia Katalin Csorba and Balazs Adolf over 5000 m (link)
- International Canoe Federation – report on the first finals day in Brandenburg an der Havel, including the victory of Agnes Anna Kiss and Bianka Nagy in the C2 500 m (link)
- International Canoe Federation – preview of the Hungarian national team for the May World Cup series, with information on the squad, the status of Kopasz and Adolf and the Olympic ranking for Los Angeles 2028 (link)
- IMAS Sport – official schedule and results page for the 2026 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Cup Brandenburg (link)