Olympics Canoe and Kayak Sprint results: August 16
By Brad Weiss
The 2016 Rio Olympics canoe and kayak sprint events are in full swing, and on Tuesday, the first four gold medals were awarded in the sport.
The first gold medal was won by Germany’s Sebastian Brendel, who dominated once again in the Men’s canoe single 1000m. Brendel, who won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, beat the second-place finisher by almost three seconds. It was a dominant performance over two days for the German, who also posted the fastest time in the preliminary round.
Brazil’s Isaquias Quieroz dos Santos won the silver medal in the event, while Serghei Tarnovschi of Moldova took home the bronze. Incredibly, the three medal winners finished in the same order during the preliminary round. The hard-luck loser of the day was Russia’s Ilia Shtokalov, who missed out on a medal by 0.11 seconds. Poland’s Tomacz Katzor won the consolation final with a time of 3:59.35, which would have won him the bronze if he qualified for the medal final.
MEDAL RESULT | Men's canoe single 1000m
As in the Men’s canoe single 1000m, the team with the best time in the preliminary went on to win the gold medal in the Women’s kayak double 500m. Hungary’s Danuta Kozak and Gabriella Szabo took home the gold, narrowly defeating the 2012 gold medal team from the London Olympics, Germany’s Tina Dietze and Franziska Weber, who missed out on repeating as gold medal winner by only 0.05 seconds.
The bronze medal was won by Poland’s Beata Mikolajczyk and Karolina Naja, who repeated their third-place performance from four years ago. Over in the consolation final, Sweden’s Sofia Paldanius and Karin Johansson finished with the best time.
MEDAL RESULT | Women's kayak double 500m
There was no big surprise in the Women’s kayak single 200m, as reigning gold medalist Lisa Carrington took the gold once again. Carrington, who earned the medal for New Zealand, beat the rest of the field with a time of 39.86s. Carrington was heavy favorite, and did not disappoint. Poland’s Marta Walczykiewicz took the silver, while Azerbaijan’s Inna Osypenko-Radomska won the bronze.
The consolation final was won by Hungary’s Natasa Dusev-Janics, who posted a time of 41.67s.
MEDAL RESULT | Women's kayak single 200m
The final medals were awarded in the Men’s kayak single 1000m. Marcus Walz of Spain took the gold medal, taking first place by a mere 0.70 seconds. The Czech Republic won the silver, with Josef Dostal missing a gold medal by less than a second. Russian Roman Anoshkin finished in third pace, earning the bronze medal.
Australia’s Murray Stewart, who finished with the best time during the semifinal round, failed to make it to the podium, finishing in fourth place. Canada’s Adam van Koeverden, who won a silver medal in this event during the 2012 London Olympics, won the consolation final.
MEDAL RESULT | Men's kayak single 1000m
Four more canoe and kayak sprint events kick off on Wednesday, with consolation and medal finals taking place on Thursday.