PHOTOS: Hungarian National Kayak-Canoe Academy opened near Lake Velence

“Hungary has to keep up with the world’s best not only on the track and in the water, but also in preparation and in the quality of the sports facilities,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the opening of the Kovács Katalin National Kayak-Canoe Academy in Sukoró, in central Hungary, on Saturday.

“Hungarians have a special relationship with aquatic sports,” Orbán said. Even though Hungary is a landlocked country, water polo, swimming and kayaking have always been the flagships of Hungarian elite sports, he said.

The prime minister praised Katalin Kovács, 31-time world champion canoe sprinter, who competed in four Olympic games and won three gold and five silver medals. He said her example showed that community and personal ambition were the two main drivers of success.

Katalin Kovács. Photo: MTI

Orbán said athletes knew that community gave them strength and endurance. Values such as trust, perseverance and camaraderie can be best learned from sports, he added.

He said the other prerequisite for a nation’s success was ambition, that we should not be satisfied with what was just good enough. These are skills that Hungary will greatly need in the period ahead, he said.

Kovács Katalin National Kayak-Canoe Academy supported by the Orbán government

The past 35 years were a fundamentally peaceful era when it was possible to achieve success with simple life strategies and slightly better than average performance, but in the future, more will be required, the prime minister said.

The interior of the academy. Photo: MTI

Hungary will need people who can always “raise the bar,” Orbán said. This is why the Hungarian government invests in sports and creates sports academies such as the Kovács Katalin National Kayak-Canoe Academy, Orbán said.

Here is his video:

HERE is the academy’s Youtube page.

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