Renowned Canoeist Rakonczay Calls Time On 18-Year Career of Extreme Sports in Hungary

  • 11 Mar 2025 7:18 AM
Renowned Canoeist Rakonczay Calls Time On 18-Year Career of Extreme Sports in Hungary
After successfully completing his last solo expedition of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 75 days and 10 hours, Hungary’s solo canoeist Gabor Rakonczay has announced his retirement from that sport.

"I have crossed the ocean to see the force that moves the world," the 44-year-old athlete said on Facebook on Sunday, noting that he had rowed 5,123 kilometres across the Atlantic to reach the bay of Antigua on Saturday evening Hungarian time.

"After my 77-day expedition of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 2012 this was my second journey crossing it again," he said.

"By completing this expedition, I consider my 18-year career in extreme sports finished. Now, with the experiences gained, I will enter a new phase in my life," Rakonczay added.

Milestones in his career include sailing across an ocean four times, rowing across an ocean two times and crossing Greenland also two times, and completing a 44-day expedition in Antarctica.

Rakonczay is also a two-time Guinness world record holder and an ultra-marathon world champion.

He is the only athlete in the world to have crossed the ocean by rowing a canoe.
 

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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