(2014 ARCHIVED) Danuta Kozak - Hungary
DANUTA KOZAK (Hungary) - Nominee for 'Sportswoman of the Year'
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KozakDanuta
- Born: 1987, sport(s): canoe sprint (K1W, K2W, K4W), represents: Hungary
- 2014: World Champion K1W 500m and K4W 500m; European Champion K1W 200m and 500m, K4W 500m; World Cups: gold K1W 500m and gold K4W 500m (Szeged)
- 2013: World Champion K1W 500m, K4W 500m and K1W 4x200m, European Champion K4W 500m and silver K1W 500m, World Cups: silver K4W 500m (Szeged)
Danuta Kozak is one of the most respected and successful canoe sprint athletes in the last 7 years, the 2014 season was testament to how consistantly good she is – she did the 'double double' defending her world titles over 500m in both K1W and K4W in 2013 and 2014.
The London 2012 Olympic Games sealed her place in the history books with she earned double gold in K1W 500m and in K4W 500m with teammates Szabo, Kovacs and Fazekas Zur. Also in the same event she only just missed out on the 'top slot' taking home silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Hungarian has a substantial medal haul across all other major senior international competitions; 3 Olympic (2 gold, 1 silver), 12 World Championship (10 gold, a silver and a bronze), 18 European (11 gold, 6 silver and a bronze) plus numerous more World Cup results to add to this. Her U23 and junior record is nonetheless impressive; 4-time Junior World Champion (2003, 2005) and 2-time U23 European Champion (2007) for example.
She is a worthy candidate of the Golden Paddle as her results and medal record is quite unrivalled in the field.
Activities and achievements off the water:
- At 27, it is quite possible that we could see another decade of achievement from Danuta.
This is a 2014 archived nominee. For the 2015 nominees click on the button below.
