Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta has welcomed the arrival of the mixed four events at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Championships in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The mixed K4 500m and mixed C4 500m are making their first appearance in the ICF’s flagship event’s 86-year history.
The races see two men and two women compete alongside each other as crews power across the water paddling in unison.
Pimenta, the two-time Olympic medallist, teamed up with Teresa Portela, Messias Baptista and Francisca Laia as they progressed to the final of the mixed K4 500m.
“The mixed K4 is a new event and it’s the first time. We have never competed together,” said Pimenta.
“We just had two trainings together and I think we do well with a good feeling, good balance, paddling together with the same stroke rate.
“It’s good for the sport as it’s more races for us.
“We don’t have so many opportunities to compete but on the other side I hope they don’t remove any men’s or women’s races but do more as we need to compete and put on a better show and with more races we have this opportunity.”
His appearance in the four-person boat has added to a heavy workload for Pimenta who competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics two weeks ago.
Pimenta is embracing the busy schedule as he bids for success in the mixed K4 500m, the men’s kayak single 500m and the men’s K1 5000m.
“Every time I say after the Olympics, if I take a medal or not, I want to come here and fight for a good result and give my best,” said Pimenta.
“It’s a busy Sunday because in five hours, I have three different races.
“The final in K1 500m, the final in the mixed K1 500m and after three hours the men’s K1 5000m final.
“I hope to enjoy every race, take a good feeling and we will see.
“I hope to do a great show for the canoeing family.”
The Hungarian team have also hailed the introduction of the mixed four events in Samarkand, with both the K4 and C4 crews advancing to the final.
Virag Balla, Giada Bragato, Kristof Kollar and Istvan David Juhasz combined in the mixed C4 boat.
“That was our first race so it was quite a shock with how good our start was,” said Balla.
“We were also really good in the middle so in the end we could spare our strength and hopefully in the final we can do a little bit better.
“We thought that it would be just C4 for just women’s and men’s and one week before the competition we had the selection and we had the first practice here so it is really new.
“It’s amazing as we can learn a lot from the guys, they have more experience and I enjoy training and race together.”
All the results from the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Samarkand can be found here.
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