Sara Mihalik, the track rower representing Finland, brought the World Championship bronze in the 5,000 meters distance at the World Championships in Halifax on Sunday. Hungarian Mihalik’s right to represent the Finnish national team came into force in January.
Hungarian representative representing Finland Sara Mihalik won the World Cup bronze medal in track paddling in Halifax, Canada, early Monday morning Finnish time.
Mihalik’s medal win in the 5,000m race came after a strong performance that was close to the finish even in the fight for victory. Only one unlucky fall deprived the 26-year-old of a chance to fight for the gold medal after Mihalik paddled the entire distance as part of the top three of the competition.
In the end, Hungary rowed to victory Emese Kohalmi and Germany for silver Jule Hake.
Finland’s last World Cup medal in track paddling before Mihalik’s performance was from 2013, when Anne Rikala also paddled bronze in the 5,000-meter K1 distance.
Mihalik’s medal did not come off easily, as the jury mistakenly tried to flag him out during the competition. The reason was the jury’s interpretation of Mihalik’s fall after the second stretch.
Mihalik was given a so-called “knock-out” disqualification, which applies to long distances with more than 10 participants. According to the rule, the last paddler of each round is flagged out of the game. However, Mihalik was in the top place of the competition when he fell.
The Finnish national team had to make two protests and finally a complaint to the International Canoe Federation’s ICF track committee about the jury’s decision before Mihalik’s bronze was secured.
– It ended well, everything was fine, but it was quite a show. We received an official decision to keep Sara’s medal 3.5 hours after the end of the competition, Finland’s track paddling coaching manager Petteri Pitkänen describes to Urheilu by phone from Canada.
The jury’s interpretation was confusing
A new competition format was introduced to the traditional 5,000 meter distance at the World Championships in Halifax. Two separate kayak carrying distances have been added to the trip, where the paddlers carry their 12-kilogram racing kayaks.
According to Pitkänen, the format was only tested in one World Cup competition before the World Cup. Pitkänen believes that the format combining track kayaking and marathon kayaking will live on before its final form.
The hopes of the International Canoe Federation have been that the format would bring interesting long-distance races, challenges for competitors and surprising twists.
– If the goal is to get those surprising twists and unpredictable results, then the format is really good, Pitkänen laughs the morning after the competition.
Mihalik’s fall situation came to a disgusting place, as the leading Finn fell in the middle of the race while trying to get back into his kayak from the carry section. The kayak of Germany’s Hake, who was behind Mihalik, bumped into the racing equipment of the Finnish representative, which caused him to take a quick dip.
The jury interpreted this carrying and falling situation as the last of the Finnish round and therefore subject to the elimination rule. However, Mihalik himself decided to paddle to the finish because he felt the jury’s flagging was unfair.
– I asked the competition judge during the competition why I was flagged out. The answer was that I had been dropped. I was sure that I wouldn’t have been dropped when I was in the top group, so I just kept paddling until the finish and it paid off, Mihalik himself recounted what happened in the Finnish news release.
A Hungarian who represents Finland
For Mihalik, Finland is another representative country at the international level. Mihalik, who was born in Hungary and started his career at the international level, is not yet a Finnish citizen, although he represents the Finnish national team. He has a record of wearing the Finnish colors in two World Cup competitions and has gone through all the national qualifying competitions.
– The change of Sara’s right of representation from Hungary to Finland took place at the end of 2021 and took effect from the first day of this year. He has not represented Hungary internationally since 2019, as his career was interrupted at that time, Pitkänen explains.
– When, after his various difficulties, he decided to put his all into top sports again, he knew that the chances of representing Hungary would be on the cards. That’s why he went looking for a new address, so to speak.
The address was found in Finland. Mihalik currently represents Finnish club Jyväskylä Meloji. He has lived in Tampere for the summer and trained with the Finnish national team paddlers at Kaukajärvi in Tampere for the competition season. Pitkänen describes the transfer of representation rights between countries as easy.
– If there are no representative events in the ranks of the previous country from international competitions from the past years, then there are no quarantine rules in the transfer. When you are registered as a member of the local club of the “receiving” country and the transfer has been made according to all ICF rules, you don’t even need to live in the country, Pitkänen says.
Regarding Finland, Mihalik has the right to represent the national team, club membership and the desire to compete in blue and white colors. For a Hungarian, study opportunities have been examined to support a permanent move to Finland.
– However, he trains like a professional athlete, without anyone paying him a salary. That is why it is necessary to examine how a possible place of study or another option could suit his sports, says head of coaching Pitkänen.