(2016 ☆ ARCHIVED) Martina Satkova - Czech Republic

MARTINA SATKOVA (Czech Republic) - 2016 Nominee for 'Sports Junior of the Year' award.

Born: 1998, Disciplines: Wildwater Sprint, Canoe Slalom, Boater Cross. Represents: Czech Republic.

2016:
• World Championships (senior): 1st K1 Teams (Classic) & C1 Sprint, 2nd C1 (Classic), 3rd K1 Sprint Teams, 4th K1 (Classic), 6th K1 Sprint;
• 1st K1 Classic, 2nd K1W Sprint Junior European Championships;
• 1st K1 and C1 Classic, and C1 Sprint, World Cup (senior), Pau.
• 3rd in the overall 2016 ICF Rankings, and the first junior.
2015:
• 1st K1 & C1 Classic and C1W Sprint, 2nd K1 Sprint, Junior World Championships

Martina Satkova is most certainly a star in the making. The 18-year-old from the Czech Republic has a resume of results most canoeists can only dream of, and the 2016 season gave her more wins to add to the collection.

Wildwater is one of the most physically demanding paddlesport disciplines that requires a raw power, speed, technique and tactic, four traits that can take years to discover and develop. Martina Satkova makes these look easy.

In her final year of junior competition Martina finished on a high by winning four medals in individual events, three gold and one silver, at the Junior Wildwater European Championships. 

In addition to her feats as a junior, she focussed a lot of her efforts on the open (senior) category of racing this year. Some of her best results came at the 2016 ICF Canoeing Wildwater World Cup in Pau where she won the K1 and C1 (Classic) races. She also managed six top six places at the Wildwater World Championships in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her gold medal in the C1 Sprint proved to the world that she is more than ready to step up into the senior ranks. She then backed this up with silver in the C1 Classic and bronze in the K1 sprint. 

To top off a stellar season in Wildwater, she placed third in the overall 2016 ICF rankings, and was the highest ranked junior competitor. This is an outstanding result for someone so young.

Showing her versatility, Martina is also a member of the Czech Republic Canoe Slalom team and competes in the C1 event as well as the boater-cross. This year she competed at the Canoe Slalom World Cup in Pau where she finished 9th in the C1 as well as picking up a 4th place at the 2016 Junior World Championships in C1. In 2014 Martina also won a silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games in the C1 Obstacle Canoe Slalom.

As she wraps up her outstanding junior career and officially joins the senior ranks, Martina is a very worthy nominee for the junior sportsperson of the year award.

This is a 2016 archived nominee. Voting has closed.