On day two of the ICF Sprint World Cup in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal Olympic Champion Lisa Carrington showed her preparations are well on track to defend her title in Rio after continuing to dominate the K1W 200.
 
It was level pegging between the Kiwi and Poland’s Marta Walczykiewicz at the start of today’s final.  But Carrington had not lost a final in this event since 2011 and she had no plans to do so today.
 
She pushed ahead in the second half of the race to beat Walczykiewicz, once again the bridesmaid, by 0.664 seconds
 
“It was a really good race,” said Carrington afterwards.  “Racing Marta is awesome and she is incredible competitor and a great athlete.
 
“Looking forward we will do some analysis and see where I can improve but this was another step to Rio a chance to practise what we will do in Rio.
 
Carrington’s winning time of 40.556 might not have been  time was not especially fast but that was a reflection of the light headwind rather than the athletes form.
 
“These races are the best kind of training for Rio and wind conditions in Rio and Montemor are potentially similar,” she explained.
 
“In Rio it is a side wind from the left and here it is coming from the right. But it is good practice having a side wind and there is a bit of variability across the line.”
 
K1M 1000m
 
Continuing where he left off last week Czech Republic’s Josef Dostal lead from the start to finish first in the K1M 1000 A final to beat his team mate Jakub Špicar into second.  Bronze went to Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta
 
“My start of the season was not very good so I am really happy I could win here in Montemor and last week in Racice,” said Dostal.  “Right now I'm looking for Rio and I want to improve again"
 
C1M 1000m

In the C1M 1000 it was a fight to the line between two Poles.  Vincent Slominski held the lead for most of the race but had to settle for silver after trading places with team mate Tomasz Kaczor. And, having won today, Kaczor confirmed his place in the Olympic team for this event.
 
K2M 200

Germany underlined its  depth of talent in the K2M 200 having won gold the for the second week in a row.  Last week it had been Tom Liebscher and Ronald Rauhe who cleared the finish line first, but today the honours went to their team mates Max Lemke and Felix Koenig.
 
Having not had the best of starts the German’s pulled ahead to beat Poland’s Piotr Mazur and Dawid Putto by almost half a boat length.
 
“We were a bit surprised with the start as we didn't really expect it when it arrived but then we quickly came back in the race,"  admitted Koenig afterwards.
 
Lemke added: We are happy with our race despite the start, the front wind was strong but we were stronger!"
 
K2W 500

Poland was expected to win the K2W 500 but few imagined Karolina Naja and
Beata Mikolajczyk would cross the finish line almost five seconds ahead of the young German pair, Lisa Jahn and Melanie Gebhardt
 
Brimming with confidence afterwards, Mikolajczyk said: "I've been in the top athletes for a few years and I won here in Montemor already.  It is not difficult for me it's always the same.
 
"Our plan is to win the start, make a strong paddling in the middle and win in the finish. I want the gold medal in Rio and I will do all the necessary to achieve this."
 
There was consolation for Jahn and Gebhardt who, having won silver, confirmed their place in the team competing in next month’s World Junior and under 23 Championships in Berlaraus next month
 
K2M 1000

Portugal took gold of the event in the K2M 1000, holding off two teams from Australia
 
Emanuel Silva and João Ribeiro had been in the mix from the very start and it looked likely they would have to fight out the closing stages with Australians Riley Fitzsimmons and Jordan Wood.
 
But the challenge came from Australian World Champions came, Kenny Wallace and Lachlan Tame who produced their trademark surge for the line with 200m to go.
 
The determined Portugese kept the pressure on and crossed the line just 0.160 seconds ahead to take gold.
 
“It was a very closed race and all the boats came together,” said Silva.  “But we wanted to win and, as it’s our local territory and our families are watching us it gave us more energy and  more power for us.

“We needed to keep going faster and now we are looking forward for Rio.”
 
Results from Day 2 ICF Sprint World Cup in Montemor-o-Velho
 
K1 W 1000m
Gold – Edyta KIERKLA (POL)
Silver – Jasmin FRITZ (GER)
Bronze – Begona LAZKANO (ESP)
 
C1 M 1000m
Gold – Tomasz KACZOR (POL)
Silver – Vincent SLOMINSKI (POL)
Bronze – Riwei WANG (CHN)
 
K1 M 1000m
Gold – Josef DOSTAL (CZE)
Silver – Jakub SPICAR (CZE)
Bronze – Fernando PIMENTA (POR)
 
K2 M 200m
Gold – Max LEMKE & Felix KOENIG (GER)
Silver – Piotr MAZUR & Dawid PUTTO (POL)
Bronze – Etienne MORNEAU & Ryan COCHRANE (CAN)
 
K1 W 200m
Gold – Lisa CARRINGTON (NZL)
Silver – Marta WALCZYKIEWICZ (POL)
Bronze – Spela JANIC (SLO)
 
C1 W 200m
Gold – Dorota BOROWSKA (POL)
Silver – Liudmyla LUZAN (UKR)
Bronze – Johanna HANDRICK (GER)
 
K2 W 500m
Gold – Karolina NAJA & Beata MIKOLAJCZYK (POL)
Silver – Lisa JAHN & Melanie GEBHARDT (GER)
Bronze – Rita KATRINECZ & Eszter MALCSINER (HUN)
 
K2 M 1000m
Gold – Emanuel SILVA & Joao RIBEIRO (POR)
Silver – Kenny WALLACE & Lachlan TAME (AUS)
Bronze – Riley FITZSIMMONS & Jordan WOOD (AUS)
 
C2 M 200m
Gold – Boryslav BYZU & Bohdan CHABAN (UKR)
Silver – Adel MOJALLALIMOGHADAM & Ali OJAGHI (IRI)
Bronze – Bruno AFONSO & Nuno SILVA (POR)
 
K2 W 200m
Gold – Marta WALCZYKIEWICZ & Beata MIKOLAJCZYK (POL)
Silver – Sara OUZANDE & Isabel CONTRERAS (ESP)
Bronze – Anett SZILAGYI & Fanni SIMAN (HUN)