Mike Dawson has created a piece of kayaking history becoming the first New Zealander to win an ICF World Cup canoe slalom medal over the weekend.
The two-time Olympian from Tauranga grabbed gold in the men's extreme canoe slalom final at the first World Cup of the season in Prague, heading off a star trio of Czech paddlers on their home course.
The non-Olympic extreme event featured four boats negotiating the tricky Troja course, with slalom gates and a compulsory eskimo roll to negotiate.
The 30-year-old Dawson edged his good friend and long-time rival Vavra Hradilek - the 2012 Olympic silver medalist - in the final, ahead of Vit Prindis and fellow Czech Ondrej Tunka. "It was a pretty cool race in the final, with Vavra, Vit and Ondrej Tunka, and it was cool to take it to the Czechs and win New Zealand's first world cup medal," Dawson said.
"It was pretty flat-tack top-to-bottom and you've got to do two gates, so it's full-on, but once we came through the quarter-finals into the semis, it was anyone's race."