Defending Olympic champions Lisa Carrington and Balint Kopasz sent out an early warning to their opponents by posting the quickest times in their respective heats on day two of the Canoe Sprint competition at Paris 2024.
New Zealand’s Carrington was quickest in the kayak single 500m as she chases back-to-back Olympic gold. Teammate Aimee Fisher, on her Games return, also breezed through her heat, while Hungary’s Tamara Csipes looked ominous in the toughest heat of the day.
Carrington said she is looking forward to Saturday’s final, as she chases another potential three gold medals.
“I was just trying to do the race as efficiently as possible, and I’ve got to be mindful of the whole week,” Carrington said.
“You do want the best paddlers prepared the best they can and to be their best at the moment, so I look forward to Saturday. I think it’s going to be a great race, I’m looking forward to it.”
Csipes said having spent most of her paddling career battling against Carrington, she now has to overcome a second New Zealander to win Olympic gold.
“There are five of us who want this gold medal,” Csipes said.
“Honestly, I think the women doing the K1 500m is the hardest race in the Olympics. The New Zealanders are amazing. If I win, I am prouder of myself because of them, if they win, they are prouder of themselves. It’s good. I’m nervous.”
Also winning her heat was Sweden’s Linnea Stensils, who has overcome injury and illness which threatened to derail her Olympic campaign.
“I haven’t been sure how my shape was coming in here, I’ve had some injuries during the season, so it was just nice to put out a good race and qualify directly to the final,” Stensils said.
“I feel like since I turned 30, there’s been sickness here and there, and I’ve been having trouble with my elbow and my collarbone. Some weeks have been really good, and some weeks have not been good.
“This is my third Olympics, and not many athletes have done three, so I’m really happy about that. Some times have been really tough, thinking I might be here in a lot of pain, but right now I’m not in pain, so as long as my body stays fine and I can do great races, I’ll be happy.”
View this post on Instagram
In the men’s kayak single 1000m, it was Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Kopasz who set the fastest time, but there were also impressive heat performances by several of the athletes expected to challenge for gold – including Hungarian kayak double teammate and Tokyo silver medalist, Adam Varga.
“Maybe I’m better now mentally, because I think physically, I can’t do faster, but I’ve had so much experience now in my races, and I have a lot of medals,” Varga said.
“So, I’m a little braver, I have more confidence. I have pressure on myself because I think I can be on the podium, so I will have to do my best and it will be very hard. So, there is pressure on myself, but not from outside.”
Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta chased the Hungarian duo home for bronze in Tokyo, but feels he is ready to challenge again for gold this week.
“I’m just trying to control it a little bit more,” Pimenta said.
“Sometimes it is not about winning the heat of the semi-final, but feeling good in the final.”
In the men’s canoe single1000m, Olympic champion Isaquias Guimaraes Queiroz from Brazil and world champion Martin Fuksa of Czechia found themselves drawn next to each other in their heat, with Fuksa coming out on top.
“It’s never easy beating the Olympic champion in a heat, I don’t understand how that happened,” Fuksa said.
“When I go into a heat, I want to win. I think it’s not important physically, but psychologically. I don’t care about Tokyo and Rio, it’s a European city, so it’s better for me. But so many of my family and friends are here, so I want to be good.
“So many years I’ve been competing, and I’ve collected a lot of medals, but I have one medal missing. I will do my best and we will see what happens on Friday.”
After a disappointing 2023, Queiroz said he has arrived in Paris ready to show the form that took him to gold in Tokyo.
“Last year was a very challenging year after nine years of competing around the Olympic Games,” Queiroz said.
“It was very important for me to go back to my hometown and relieve a lot of the stress of those races and to rest a little bit. It’s been 15 years in the Brazilian team, which is half my age, so there has been a lot of mental stress. So, this race was very important for me.”
German triple Olympic champion Sebastian Brendel turned the clock back, posting the second fastest heat time behind Romania’s former world champion Catalin Chirila. After retiring momentarily from the C1, Brendel said he was happy to be back in the boat which took him to gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
“I still love to compete, I still love to train and show what my highest level is,” Brendel said.
“In Tokyo not everything went like we planned. In C1 I was hoping for a bit more, but that’s the sport and that’s what we like in the sport. There’s no way you can see into the future.”
On Thursday, the first gold medals in Canoe Sprint will be awarded in the men’s and women’s kayak four 500m and the men’s canoe double 500m.
