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The Czech Olympic champion claimed his ninth World Championship medal over the iconic 1000-metre distance on Friday, drawing level with Ivan Klementiev at the top of the all-time standings – a record which had stood alone for 31 years.

And Fuksa reached the landmark in extraordinary circumstances.

Racing from lane one, the Czech paddler appeared to be out of contention during much of the final as Zakhar Petrov established himself at the front of the race. But Fuksa produced a powerful finish, as did Hungary’s Daniel Fejes.

Neither could be separated at the line.

Both stopped the clock at 4:07.44, with Fuksa and Fejes sharing the World Championship title. Petrov was just 0.02 seconds behind, taking bronze in 4:07.46.

For Fuksa, however, this was much more than another gold medal.

Nine medals and a record 31 years in the making

The victory took Fuksa to nine World Championship medals in the Men’s C1 1000m, equalling a record established by Ivan Klementiev when he collected bronze at the 1995 World Championships in Duisburg.

Klementiev's remarkable collection stretched from 1985 to 1995. He won his first C1 1000m world title in Mechelen in 1985 and ultimately accumulated six gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals in the event while competing during his career under the Soviet Union, Latvia and Poland. His ninth and final medal came with bronze in Duisburg in 1995.Ivan is still the legend of the C1 sprint racing.

No paddler had matched that total since.

Until Fuksa.

The Czech now has a very different but equally remarkable collection: three golds, five silvers and one bronze.

Five silvers before finally reaching the top

Perhaps the most remarkable element of Fuksa’s journey towards the record is the route he took to get there.

His first five World Championship medals in the C1 1000m were all silver.

He finished second in Moscow in 2014, Milan in 2015, Račice in 2017, Montemor-o-Velho in 2018 and Copenhagen in 2021.

For years, Fuksa was consistently among the very best C1 1000m paddlers in the world without being able to take the World Championship title. Germany’s Sebastian Brendel was responsible for four of those silver medals, winning ahead of the Czech in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018.

The sequence finally changed in Dartmouth in 2022, although not yet to gold. Fuksa took bronze behind Romania’s Cătălin Chirilă and Brazil’s Isaquias Queiroz, bringing his tally to six medals.

Then came Duisburg.

In 2023, after years of coming close, Fuksa finally became C1 1000m World Champion, beating defending champion Chirilă. The breakthrough was his first world title after five previous silver medals.

One year later, Fuksa achieved the biggest success of his career by becoming Olympic champion in Paris, dominating the C1 1000m final and setting an Olympic best time of 3:43.16.

Three World titles in succession

There has been no stopping him since his breakthrough.

Fuksa defended his world crown in Milan in 2025 and arrived in Poznań as the reigning Olympic and World champion. In Milan, he once again stood on top of the C1 1000m podium, ahead of Greece’s Stefanos Dimopoulos and Hungary’s Balazs Adolf.

Now, the dramatic shared victory with Fejes gives Fuksa gold in the last three World Championship editions in which the C1 1000m has been contested: Duisburg 2023, Milan 2025 and Poznań 2026.

And remarkably, Friday’s final almost did not develop that way.

Fuksa only just progressed from his semifinal, finishing third, and was well outside the medal positions during the opening stages of the final. But his trademark finish brought him back into contention before he and Fejes caught Petrov almost on the line.

“It’s nice to share the top of the podium with Daniel,” Fuksa said afterwards.

“I’m proud of this moment and I am really happy that we can be at the top of the world together. I have won every race in C1 this year so it’s amazing.”

Fejes, meanwhile, summed up the significance of the athlete alongside him on the podium simply: “Martin is a legend.”

One more medal to stand alone

The numbers now put that description into perspective.

Ivan Klementiev — 9 medals: 6 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze
Martin Fuksa — 9 medals: 3 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze
Sebastian Brendel — 8 medals
Andreas Dittmer — 8 medals

Thirty-one years after Klementiev established the benchmark, Fuksa has finally joined him.

And unlike the record he has just equalled, Fuksa’s story in the C1 1000m may not yet be finished.

At 33 years of age, the Czech is the reigning Olympic champion and has now won the last three World Championship titles contested over the distance.

One more World Championship podium would put Martin Fuksa alone at the top of the all-time C1 1000m medal standings.

Martin Fuksa Medals: