Hungary's Olympic champion kayaker Janics-Douchev to compete for Serbia

BUDAPEST, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Hungary's three-time Olympic champion kayaker Natasa Janics-Douchev announced on Thursday that she was quitting Hungary and returning to her native Serbia to compete.

She submitted her transfer request to the Hungarian Kayak-Canoe Federation on Thursday, three days before the 30 September deadline.

Janics-Douchev, who has also won 18 world championships and 17 Europeans, was born in Serbia and has lived in Hungary since 2000. She holds dual citizenship. She announced her decision to move after her Bulgarian husband, Andrian Douchev, who won bronze in the K-2 at 1,000m in Atlanta, was given a kayak coaching job in Serbia.

Douchev, who had coached in Hungary for several years, was apparently dissatisfied and Janics-Douchev, 30, who he has also been coaching, has chosen to return to Serbia with him and compete for her native country.

Janics-Douchev is a daughter of Milan Janic, a Serbian canoer who won silver for Yugoslavia in the K-1 1,000m at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Both her brothers Mico and Stjepan Janic are canoers who have competed for Croatia.

Janics-Douchev won both the K-1 and K-2 500m meets in Athens in 2004, the latter with partner Katalin Kovacs. The same pair won K- 2 500m race in Beijing. Janics-Douchev did not compete last year because of pregnancy, and in London, again together with Kovacs, won silver in the K-2 500m, as well as bronze in the K-1 200m.

The Hungarian Kayak-Canoe Federation has the right to reject her transfer request in which case Janics-Douchev either could continue to compete for Hungary while living in Serbia or be forced to remain on the sidelines at international meets for the next two seasons. She would next be allowed to compete in 2015 wearing Serbia's colors. The Hungarian Federation has one month to decide.

Earlier, seven-time world champion kayaker Dalma Benedek announced that she was leaving Hungary to join her Serbian canoeist husband Dusan Ruzicic. Enditem

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