John's Story
Kayaker John Sumegi won a silver medal in the K1 500 metres at Moscow 1980, becoming the first Australian to win an individual canoe/kayak medal. He was the dominant Australian kayaker of his era, winning numerous national tiles and attending four world championships.
Sumegi also finished fourth in the K1 1000 metres at Moscow and was given the honour of carrying the Olympic flag for the team at the closing ceremony. At those boycott-ravaged Olympics, Australia was one of sixteen teams that carried the Olympic flag, instead of the national flag, at the opening and closing ceremonies.
Four years earlier, at Montreal 1976, he finished eighth in the K2 500 metres, with John Southwood, and competed in the K4 1000 metres. After ceasing as an Olympics competitor, Sumegi enjoyed an excellent coaching career, training a number of Olympians.
