Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák
The three-time Olympic, 31-time world and 29-time European champion gave a speech at the opening.
“Do what you believe in and believe in what you do. This thought accompanied my career and the creation of the academy. It’s still an incredible feeling that this dream came true and that I was given the opportunity to give something back to the sport to which I owe so much,” said 48-year-old Katalin Kovács.
“I feel that my career was well-rounded, the main feature was that I wanted to perform at the highest possible level, to be the best among the best,” he added, thanking his family, coaches, fellow sportsmen and opponents. He revealed that after putting down the shovel, he was looking for new motivation, and that’s when the idea of creating the academy was formulated.
“It is an indescribably great pride that we can stand here today in a facility that I envisioned. As with my first World Championship victory, I feel now that we can create something really special, which could even lead us to another golden era,” he said with emotion, and then thanked the government, the Hungarian Kayak-Canoe Association and the supporting professionals.
According to Katalin Kovács, their goals are multifaceted. They want to help elite sports, primarily kayaking, but they also strive to cooperate with high schools and universities, and they also constantly promote the sport, and kayaking classes have already started in several elementary schools.
“Our undisclosed goal is for the facility to be the stronghold of Hungarian kayak-canoeing and Hungarian sports, and we also want to be the home of community sports in the region and the entire country. Our goal here at Sukoro will be for as many people as possible to experience the miracle of sport. I will officially open the gates of the academy today,” he announced.
Zoltán Tessely, the Fidesz member of parliament of the region, said that they are proud that the academy was realized in Sukoro, and that just like an impressive sports performance, this facility is also thanks to the joint efforts of many people.
The government decision on the implementation of the KKNKKA in Sukoro was made in the second half of 2020, the investment was built with central budget support, the National Sports Infrastructure Agency became the maintainer of the state-owned facility. The Hungarian-owned WEST HUNGÁRIA BAU Kft. was able to start the construction in the fall of 2021 based on the plans of Turi Attila Kossuth and Ybl award-winning architect and Planbau Kft. in the area of the kayak-canoe and rowing track in Sukoro – formerly VVSI.
The sports complex has an area of more than 20,000 square meters, including the main academic building, the boathouse building that functions as the kayak-canoe center, the countercurrent pool, which is also considered a curiosity in the world, and the renewed goal tower.
Imre Makovecz and the academic main building, which evokes the stylistic features of the organic architecture he created, are functionally a multi-sport facility. Building parts with different purposes can be accessed separately from the lobby: the 50-meter, ten-lane FINA-standard sports pool, which is also suitable for holding swimming competitions and water polo tournaments; the multifunctional gymnasium with a special roof structure, in which basketball, handball and volleyball, futsal and, thanks to the 30-meter-wide boulder walls, are equally at home, even on a split court. The building complex has three conditioning rooms, a modern sports diagnostic department, a restaurant for 240 people, a conference room for 240 people, and dormitories and training camp rooms as well as apartments are located in three wings of the building.
Hungary’s first high-altitude section is located here, in which, using the systems of the Finnish Hypoxico Group, it is possible to simulate high-altitude conditions for all athletes.
Surrounded by the outdoor sports courts – basketball, tennis, beach volleyball and artificial grass soccer fields, street workout fields – the kayak-canoe center of the academy is located, which includes the boat storage building that also includes the training pools and fitness room, as well as the facility for motion analysis and diagnostic measurements unique counter current pool. A rowing house and boat storage were also built in the area, thus ensuring all the former functions of the area.
“The Katalin Kovács National Kayak-Canoe Academy in Sukoro is the first sports facility in the world where the high-altitude section and the counter-current pool can be found in the same area,” said the hosts.
Parallel to the investment, the Katalin Kovács National Kayak-Canoe Academy also started operating in 2021. The sports organization already provides sports for more than 200 children from the preparatory age group to the U23 age group. At the academy, 16 sports coaches, two fitness trainers, two physiotherapists and prevention coaches, as well as four sports science staff at the Kayak-Canoe Methodology Center help prepare the competitors. The academy is strengthened by Emese Kőhalmi, the seven-time adult world champion, the reigning champion of the Hungarian kayak-canoe sport, and Sára Fojt, the two-time bronze medalist of the Paris Olympics.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán participated and gave a speech at Saturday’s event, as well as State Secretary for Sports Ádám Schmidt, former President Pál Schmitt, Zsolt Gyulay, President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee and László Szabó, President of the Hungarian Paralympic Committee.
window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
FB.init({
appId : “416476632245608”,
xfbml : true,
version : “v2.12″
});
FB.AppEvents.logPageView();
jQuery(document).trigger(‘fbInit’);
};
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = ”
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, “script”, “facebook-jssdk”));
2024-10-12 10:54:00