Egan strikes gold in Portugal

By Stephen Leonard

JENNY Egan has really turned heads in the approach to the European Senior Canoe Sprint Championships in Moscow.

Only a week after winning a Women’s K1 5000m silver in ICF World Cup 2 in the Czech Republic, the Lucan competitor went one better over the same distance in World Cup 3 in Montemor-o-Velho, to go top of the podium at this level for the very first time.

It was tremendous performance by Egan who also managed to reach the K1 500m Final at the same event.

Looking back on this feat, Egan told The Echo “To see the Irish flag raised and hear our national anthem is a feeling I can’t describe and something I’ll always cherish.”

It was a tactically astute performance by Egan, who has been edging closer to a World Cup gold since just missing out on Olympic qualification last month.

“It was a windy day and it made it quite wavy so you had to be careful because you could be turned inside the bhoys” she recalled.

“We had a tailwind over the first 1000m after which there were four of us, myself, Maggie Hogan of the USA, Germany’s Melanie Gebhert and a Hungarian girl.

“I knew it was going to come down to a sprint finish so I took the lead with about 750m to go.

“I decided that I was going to try and keep that lead and if anybody tried to attack me I was just going to attack them back and it worked” she said.

Egan took the title in front her family, including brother Peter who finished 15th in the Men’s K1 5000m- his best performance in this class.

“It’s always special to have your family there” said Jenny. “They’ve been with me through the good times and the bad and, my dad [Tom Egan], as team leader, was part of the medal presentation.

“I’ve competed in four major competitions in the space of three and half weeks and I’ve been kind of running on adrenalin.

“Reaching two finals at the [Olympic qualifiers] and then getting that Irish record [for the K1 500m at World Cup in Duisberg] was a great boost.

“Then to win silver in the Czech Republic and now gold is just amazing and is great for my confidence ahead of the European Championships” insisted the Nissan Generation Next ambassador.