Canoeists Fernando Pimenta and Teresa Portela qualified this Thursday for the final of the German World Championship, in K1 1,000 and K1 500 meters, respectively, as did Kevin Santos in K1 200 and Norberto Mourão in VL2.
“It is a very positive balance. In 15 competitions, only in one did we not reach the semifinals. We also achieved some finals and all the objectives that we had set for ourselves are still open,” says Ricardo Machado, vice president of the canoeing federation. for people with high income, in statements to Lusa.
In search of the few six Olympic places assigned in the final, Pimenta and Portela showed “class”, opening up good prospects to achieve their goal of Paris 2024 in Duisburg.
Pimenta, bronze in Tokyo 2020, led his series from the first to the last meter, winning in 3.28.097, beating the Swede Matin Nathell, the only one who followed him to the final.
On Saturday, at 11:11 a.m. Lisbon time, Pimenta, runner-up in the world, will try to maintain the tradition of international medals, in a competition worth six tickets to the Olympic Games.
Teresa Portela knew she only had access to two of the three spots in the final, as multi-time Olympic champion Lisa Carrington of New Zealand has been undefeated for a long time, winning the heat in 1.47.216 minutes, leaving Portela in second and a half. , with the Portuguese achieving a margin of more than half a second over the Serbian Milica Novakovic.
On Saturday, Teresa Portela competes on track three, with the final at 11:21. Kevin Santos was unable to defend this year’s 2022 European title in the K1 200 meters – won by his teammate Messias Baptista – but he will have the opportunity to seek an unprecedented world podium, qualifying with third place in his semifinal.
Also in the Olympic distance, the C2 500 meters of the young Inês Penetra and Beatriz Fernandes still does not have the pace of the fastest in the World, not at the level of China, Cuba and Germany, ranking fifth, so go to final b.
The duo will have, in the continental play-off phase, in 2024, in Hungary, two more ‘tickets’ that hope to play for Paris 2024.
Outside the Olympic program, Kevin Santos completed his 200-meter K1 race in 34.334, only surpassed by the Spanish Carlos Garrote and the Georgian Badri Kavelashvili: on Saturday he enters track eight, at 10:51.
In adapted canoeing, Norberto Mourão advanced in second position, with 53,012, surpassed only by the Hungarian Robert Suba: on Saturday he competes in lane two, with six places at stake.
“Friday will be a very important day, with six semifinals with the possibility of securing some important finals, such as the K4 500. If we achieve it, most of our objectives will already be accomplished”, concluded Ricardo Machado.
The K4 500 João Ribeiro, Messias Baptista, Kevin Santos and Emanuel Silva and Francisca Laia, Teresa Portela, Joana Vasconcelos and Maria Rei have the World Cup as their only chance to qualify for the Olympic Games, so reaching the final is essential.
Source: TSF
