Natasa Dusev-Janics

Natasa grew up in Serbia and competed for FR Yugoslavia at the 2000 Summer Olympics before moving to Hungary. She is a daughter of Milan Janić (1957-2003), a Serbian canoer who won a silver medal for Yugoslavia in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Both her brothers, Mićo and Stjepan Janić, are canoers and have competed for Croatia since 2004. They took part in the 2008 Olympics, though Mićo was only nominated as a reserve.[1][2]

Janics won two Olympic gold medals in the sprint canoe events at the 2004 Summer Olympics, another gold and silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and silver and bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She has also won 26 medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with 20 golds (K-1 200 m: 2007, 2009, 2010; K-2 200 m: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010; K-2 500 m: 2005, 2006; K-2 1000 m: 2005, 2006; K-4 200 m: 2002, 2003, 2006; K-4 500 m: 2006, 2009, 2010; K-4 1000 m: 2003, 2006; K-1 200 m relay: 2013) and six silvers (K-1 500 m: 2010, K-1 4 x 200 m: 2009, 2010; K-2 200 m: 2015; K-2 500 m: 2013; K-4 200 m: 2009).

She was elected Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year in 2004 and 2010. Together with Katalin Kovács she earned the title Hungarian Sportsteam of the year in 2005, 2006 and 2010.

On 4 October 2012 it was revealed that she made a decision to return and compete under the flag of her native country, Serbia.[3] On 9 March 2013 she informed the Hungarian Canoe Federation in a letter about changing her mind and her wish to compete for Hungary during her professional career.[4]

She's been suffering from a herniated disc in her neck since 2012; in 2019 she has stated that it's reached a point where she it's causing her to consider retirement.[5]

• Yugoslav Young Athlete of the Year: 2000
• Hungarian kayaker of the Year (4): 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010
• Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year (2) - votes of sports journalists: 2004, 2010
• Hungarian Athlete of the Year (1) - the National Sports Association (NSSZ) awards: 2004
• Person of the Year by Magyar Szó: 2004
• Member of the Hungarian team of year (with Katalin Kovács): 2005, 2006, 2010
• Príma Primissima award (2006)
• Pro Universitate (2008)

Orders and special awards

• Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Officer's Cross (2004)
• Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary – Commander's Cross (2008)
• Order of Merit of Hungary – Commander's Cross with Star (2012)

• Canoe09.ca profile
• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-01-21). Additional archives: Wayback Machine.
• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-11-09)
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Natasa Douchev-Janics (other names: Nataša Janić, Наташа Јанић)". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.

Awards
Preceded by Lazar Lazarević	The Best Young Athlete of Yugoslavia 2000	Succeeded by Tomislav Tomović
Preceded by Katalin Kovács Katinka Hosszú	Hungarian Sportswoman of The Year 2004 2010	Succeeded by Zsuzsanna Vörös Tamara Csipes