The thrilling Canoe Slalom began at WMG2025 at the Annong River International Canoe Slalom Waterway in Yilan, the first international event ever held there. Although the weather wasn’t the best, the competition was held and completed smoothly. “Canoe Slalom Star” Iyun Dado finished the best among all athletes in both Preliminary Rounds, advancing to the final tomorrow easily, but he wasn’t satisfied. “I applied some movements that I just learnt,” Dado said. “I should be able to finish faster next time.”
The highlight today was the “Canoe Slalom Star” Iyun Dado in Men’s K1-35+, who won two gold medals at the Asian Championship but couldn’t take part in the Asian Games because he couldn’t participate in the training due to his work. Dado currently runs his studio after retiring in 2022. He finished two Preliminary Rounds today smoothly with 82″41 in the first round, and 81″46 in the second round, which both topped the preliminary rounds.
Dado thought his results at the Preliminary Round were acceptable since he hadn’t competed for three years. “I mainly took my students to compete,” Dado said. “They only practiced for a year. They came to me last year for the training for the World Masters Games, so my initial goal was to help them to finish the race, and I trained with them. We came here once a week, but it was mainly for them. I seldom have time to train outdoors, mostly on the land. I do weight training regularly, so I get to keep the strength of my upper body. I relied mostly on my experience. To get a better understanding of the competition, I often watch the World Championships or the Olympics, and I try to memorize them and hope to apply those
Russian canoeist Andrel Kurnosov was envious of the Annong River International Canoe Slalom Waterway in Yilan. “It’s freezing cold in Russia,” Kurnosov said. “We rarely have such a great venue. This is an amazing venue, and I had a brand-new experience competing here. I imagine that after WMG2025, this can be a great training facility.” Japanese canoeist Tanaka Hideyuki also pointed out, “There are four venues to practice Canoe Slalom in Tokyo, but they’re nothing like this: a venue built by the government and open for everyone. In Japan, it costs 3,500 Japanese Yen per hour.”
As the Canoe Slalom competition became tense in the waterway, the venue was crowded with people from many local cultures nearby. Head of Sanxing Township prepared the famous local snacks, the “Scallion Pancake,” on-site for athletes and staff, promoting the local delicacies to the world.
