Hungarian paddler Zoltan Benko told Xinhua on Wednesday that his country has good reasons to achieve good results in canoe/kayak flatwater events at the Beijing Olypmics.
Speaking to reporters at the mixed zone after his semifinal race in men's kayak single 1000m in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, he said that he was not satisfied with the result he achieved in the race, but would try to do better in the next race.
He finished third in his group with a result of three minutes and 34.473 seconds, having qualified for the final.
When asked about the reasons of his country's success in the sport, he listed three reasons.
"We have a culture of training, have good coaches. We have support from the federation and we have athletes training hard," he said cheerfully.
"When you compared our national population and the number of people in the sport, you know it is a big figure," he added.
He said that in Hungary, there are dozens of canoe/kayak clubs. In his club, there are about 500 people practising canoeing and kayaking.
"I took up kayaking because I live close to a river," he said, adding that professional paddlers in his country also get good pay.
Hungary has won a total of 67 Olympic medals in canoe/kayak flatwater events since 1936, including 17 gold medals and 159 gold medals in World Championships. Now, it tops the rankings by the International Canoe Federation.
(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2008)