ICF President Thomas Konietzko considers HUSS a trustworthy partner
April 9, 2026Magyar Testnevelési és Sporttudományi Egyetem

In an exclusive interview, ICF President Thomas Konietzko expressed that Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUSS) is a key partner in training well-educated coaches for canoe and kayak.

A unique, English-language international master’s programme titled MSc Sport Coaching – Canoe and Kayak Sprint will be launched at Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUSS) in September 2026.

The programme will be implemented in cooperation with the International Canoe Federation (ICF), the Hungarian Canoe Federation and the Hungary-based Kovács Katalin National Canoe-Kayak Academy.

On this occasion, the university, which will act as the host institution of the training, signed a cooperation agreement with its key partners including ICF which will offer technical support during the training programme.

The relationship between HUSS and ICF has a long history, and the agreement will certainly deepen the partnership between the two parties.

„We have a long history of cooperation with Hungarian institutions. We launched a three-year BA course a couple of years ago, and now we are moving it up to a master’s level in cooperation with Hungarian University of Sports Science,” said Mr. Thomas Konietzko.

“The development around the world is so fast that we need a better education than earlier so HUSS will be become a key partner in this initiative. More and more federations operate on professional level, but they do not have educated coaches. However, we can close this gap now with this opportunity,” he added. 

The ICF opened new headquarters in Budapest last December – in a country that is enthusiastic about sport and so successful in canoeing and kayak.

“People in Hungary love sports, I see a lot of people doing different sports here, which creates a special atmosphere. The country has big sport institutions and organisations like this university, so we can easily find partners for our initiatives,” he explained.

“ICF can hire a lot of well-trained and educated staff here for its Budapest-based office, and some of the good working force can be found at HUSS,” he admitted.

Though a lot of sports compete to remain an Olympic sport, the president is quite confident that canoe and kayak has a stable future.

“I had a meeting with IOC President Kirsty Coventry two weeks ago. There are a lot of reforms regarding the Olympic programme going on right now. My personal feeling is that canoe and kayak is safe because ICF has carried out a lot of developments. The federation has introduced new inventions in slalom and kayak cross. More importantly, canoe and kayak is becoming a global sport with professional athletes coming from all five continents. This is our strength.”     

Pictures by Gergely Vidor

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