Standing proudly with three gold medals around his neck, Fernando Pimenta was in buoyant mood after a job well done in Poznan.
The Portuguese paddler gave himself a timely boost ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics with a hat-trick of titles at the final of ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup before the Games.
His golds in the men’s kayak single 1000m, men’s kayak single 500m and men’s kayak single 5,000m in the Polish city in late May was enough to suggest that Pimenta is in fine shape ahead of the Games.
The men’s K1 1000m will be the only event Pimenta will have to focus on during the Olympics and he is determined not to leave emptyhanded.
Pimenta won men’s kayak double 1000m silver at London 2012 and men's kayak single 1000m bronze at Tokyo 2020 but he is not satisfied with two medals as he targets more Olympic success.
With a bronze and silver already to his name, the 34-year-old will now hope to complete the full set of Olympic medals in Paris.
“It is very important to take medals,” said Pimenta.
“I have two medals in the Olympics.
“I am one of the five medallists from Portugal with more than one Olympic medal and I am so happy about this but I want more.
“In Paris, I will compete in just the K1 1000m.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the possibility to compete in the team boat, so we will see.
“We know the level is very high in the K1 1000m.
“There are a lot of athletes and some countries will have two athletes in the race.
“I hope to take my space in the final and after this try to fight for the medals.”
Pimenta has won the men’s K1 1000m title at two of the past three ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, including last year’s event in Duisburg.
But with the likes of Hungarian duo Balint Kopasz and Adam Varga and Denmark’s Mads Brandt Pedersen in the field, Pimenta knows he will have a huge battle on his hands to top the podium.
“This is very important to me as I don’t know if it is my last Olympic Games or not and with family and friends giving me support there in Paris I hope to do a great show and great result,” said Pimenta.
“I have some experience from the Olympic Games as well as the World Cups and European Championships.
“This is very important when we are preparing for this type of competition.
“We will see that all athletes in the final are in the best shape of their life.
“But taking a medal or not will come down more to the mentality.”
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