István Beé
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István Beé (born 4 July 1972 in Budapest) is a Hungarian flatwater canoer, who has won four world championship gold medals as a member of the Hungarian four-man (K4) kayak 200m crew.
His first senior medal, a bronze, came at the 1994 World Championships in Mexico City where he partnered István Szíjjártó in the K2 1000m. He is best known as a 200m specialist however, winning three straight world championship K4 200m gold medals between 1998-2001, as well as a European bronze medal in 2000. Beé's only senior medal over a longer distance came at the 2000 European Championships in Poznań, where he won the K2 500m bronze medal with Vince Fehérvári.
When the four-man 200m crew was broken up in 2002, Béci was the only "veteran" to remain, with the task of helping Hungary's new generation of young K4 sprint paddlers adapt to the international stage. In their first world championship at Gainesville, USA in 2003 they came fifth. They then won three major championships in a row, the European title in 2004 and 2005 and regaining the world crown for Hungary in Zagreb in 2005 - a tribute to Beé's effective guidance.
In 2006 they lost their 200m titles, finishing third at the European Championships at Račice, and second at the World Championships in Szeged.
Beé is a member of the Budapest Honvéd FC club. He is 185 cm (6'1") tall and weighs 87 kg (191 lbs).
[edit] World Championship Gold Medals
- 2005 K4 200m Zagreb, Croatia 00:30.211
- 2001 K4 200m Poznań, Poland 00:30.210
- 1999 K4 200m Milan, Italy 00.30.835
- 1998 K4 200m Szeged, Hungary 00:31.155