In tough windy conditions on the Canal Olimpic de Catalunya course that hosted the canoe sprint events at the 1992 Olympics, 16-year-old Soares prevailed in a blanket finish in the men’s C1 sprint over Uzbekistan’s Islomjon Abdusalomov.

In the women’s K1 sprint, 15-year-old Rendessy was a convincing winner in 1min 47.98sec, with Germany’s Gina Zint recording 1:49:63 and Rendessy’s team-mate Laura Ujfalvi taking third place in 1:50.08.

"It was very hard, but I felt I was in good form,” said Rendessy, who admitted to being nervous about the forthcoming slalom competition this weekend.

“I was so nervous. I had a lot of training, but slalom has been very difficult.

"I’m so nervous about it, the slide and the eskimo roll especially.”

Soares, the winner in 1:49.58, claimed he felt relaxed heading into today’s competition, but is also nervous about the weekend’s slalom competition.

Abdusalomov clocked 1:50.02, with third place going to Dias Bakhraddin of Kazakhstan in 1:52:80.

"I felt good today," Soares said.

"We have trained a lot in the wind in Portugal, so it made me feel more familiar with the conditions.

"This is my third international race, so I have met many of these athletes, but it is the first time I have competed against Abdusalomov.

Soares added: "I liked competing against him.

"I have two days now to practice in slalom.

"I have had some difficulties with the eskimo roll, but we have been practising a lot."

This four-day event has attracted more than 250 entries from 61 nations.

To qualify a quota place for Buenos Aires the athletes most compete in both the sprint and slalom events, with the combined results determining the final standings and the allocation of the 64 Youth Olympic Games positions.

Only two athletes from Europe made the final eight in the men’s C1 event, an indication of the growing strength worldwide of canoeing.

There were four athletes from Asia and two from the Americas.

However all of the quarter-finalists in the women’s competition were from Europe.

Rendessy has no shortage of role models in Hungary to base her career around.

The Hungarians have dominated women’s kayak paddling for decades, but Rendessy said five-time Olympic gold medallist, Danuta Kozák, was her hero.

Tomorrow is due to see the men’s K1 and women’s C1 sprint competitions, before attention turns to the obstacle races on the weekend.