Ivan Shtyl

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Ivan Shtyl (Russian: Иван Штыль), born 1986 in Komsomolsk-na-Amure, is a Russian flatwater canoer. With partner Evgeny Ignatov he is the current (2006) world champion and world record-holder in the Canadian canoe C2 200m.

One of a new generation of highly-promising Russian canoers Shtyl was a silver medallist at the 2004 European Junior Championships in Poznań, Poland (C4 500m). He won his first international title at the 2005 European Under-23 Championships. At the age of just 19, a full three years younger than many of his rivals, he won a gold medal as a member of Russia's four-man (C4) 500m canoe.

In 2006 Shtyl was approached by C2 200m world champion Evgeny Ignatov who needed a new right-handed partner as he looked to step up to the Olympic distances of 500m and 1000m (there are no 200m races in the Olympics). The new pairing made an encouraging start by finishing third in the C2 1000m at the prestigious Poznań regatta in May in a race won by Russia's number one duo of Alexander Kostoglod and Alexander Kovalev.

Shortly afterwards it was announced that Shtyl and Ignatov would represent Russia in the C2 200m at both the European and World Championships. They believed that Kostoglod and Kovalev were behind the decision - to ward off the threat to their position as Russia's representatives over the Olympic distances.

At the next major regatta, in Duisburg, a highly-motivated Shtyl and Ignatov made their point by finishing ahead of Kostoglod and Kovalev in the C2 500m. They also won the C2 500m title at the Russiannational championships - a race Kostoglod chose not to enter.

At his first senior European Championships in Račice, Czech Republic, Shtyl made a stunning debut as he and Ignatov won the C2 200m gold medal in a new world record time of 35.839 seconds. He also reached the C4 500m and C4 200m finals, placing 4th and 5th respectively.

The following month at the 2006 Flatwater Racing World Championships in Szeged, Hungary, Shtyl and Ignatov also won the world C2 200m title, beating Germany's Gille and Wylenzek by half a second, an extraordinary margin of victory in an event where first and second are normally separated by a tenth of a second or less.

After his Szeged victory Shtyl used his press interviews to slam Russia's "esteemed masters of the canoe" (i.e., Kostoglod and Kovalev), accusing them of resorting to behind-the-scenes "intrigues" to maintain their position as Russia's number one duo - and of avoiding any C2 500m showdown against the new pairing since losing in Duisburg.

National coach Sergey Verlin has promised Shtyl that he will be given his chance over the longer, Olympic distances in 2007. At the final regatta of the 2006 season, in Guangdong, China, Ignatov and Shtyl competed in (and won) the 500m as well as the 200m.

Shtyl is a student at the Maritime State University in Vladivostok.