Olympics Canoe, Kayak Sprint live stream: Watch online – August 15th
By Brad Weiss
Here’s everything you need to know about watching the Olympics Canoe/Kayak Sprint events on Monday, August 15.
On Monday, the Canoe/Kayak Spring competition kicks off in full swing, as there will four different events taking place. The men will compete in the Canoe Single 1000m and Kayak Single 1000m, and the women will battle it out in the Kayak Double 500m and Kayak Single 1000m. There will be preliminary and semifinal round for all events, with the finals taking place on Tuesday.
The Men’s Canoe Single 1000m get the events started, as the men will get into the water at 8:00am ET. Germany’s Sebastian Brendel will be looking to repeat as the gold medalist in the event, as he was the best during the 2012 London Olympics. If he were to repeat, there will be two new men on the podium with him, as the silver (David Cal, Spain) and bronze (Mark Oldershaw, Canada) medal winners from 2012 are not competing.
In the single events for canoeing, competitors rest on one knee, use one single-bladed paddle and the canoe is 5.2m long weighing at least 14kg.
The Women’s Kayak Double 500m will be the second event to get started on Monday, and like the Men’s Canoe Single 1000m, the reigning gold medals will be in the field. In Heat 2, Germany’s Tina Dietze and Franziska Weber will be looking to return to the top spot on the podium, but will have to stave off the bronze medalist due from the 2012 Games. Polands’ Beata Mikolajczyk and Karolina Naja will be looking to avenge their third place finish from four years ago.
In the kayak double events, competitors sit, use double-bladed paddles and the kayak is up to 6.5m long weighing at least 18kg.
Event number three on Monday will be the Women’s Kayak Single 200m, and it will feature the biggest name in the sport. New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington is the favorite to win both the 200m and possibly the 500m, an event she won the World Championship in last year. Carrington won the gold medal in the 200m in 2012, and is a four-time world champion. Carrington will be in the Heat 1 preliminary alongside 2012 silver medalist Natasa Dusev-Janics.
In the kayak single events, competitors sit, use double-bladed paddles and the kayak is up to 5.2m long weighing at least 12kg.
The final event of Monday’s slate is the Men’s Kayak Single 1000m. Adam van Koeverden of Canada will be looking to move up one more position than he finished in 2012, when he took home the silver medal in this event. 2012 London Olympics gold medalist Eirik Veras Larsen of Norway will not be competing in 2016, clearing the way for van Koeverden to win the gold. Max Hoff, who won the bronze in 2012, will also be in Rio.
The canoe/kayak sprint events will take place in Lagoa Stadium, at Lagao Rodrigo de Freitas. Despite the picturesque look of the venue, it has tested very high in bacteria during the lead up to the Summer Games. Athletes will need to try to put that out of their mind and go after the medals if they want to win.
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Below is all the information needed to tune in to the canoe/kayak sprint action on Monday.
Date: Monday, August 15
Start Time: 8:00am ET
TV Info: NBC (Not live, Coverage starts at 2:30pm ET)
Live Stream: NBC Olympics
On Tuesday, the finals in these four events will take place, with the gold medals up for grabs.