The canoeists João Ribeiro and Messias Batista rejoiced this Sunday with their first world title in the Olympic distance of K2 500 meters, highlighting the strong union between them as a key factor for their success.
“We knew we were candidates for medals, but with this high level we could be both first and ninth. In the last World Cup we did the best time and finished fifth. In the European Games, with my mistake, we were fourth door. Today [domingo]we felt that it was the moment”, revealed João Ribeiro.
The duo trained by Rui Fernandes needed to be in the top six to guarantee their presence at the 2024 Paris Games and completed the race in 1.29.037 minutes, 47 thousandths of a second faster than the second-place finisher, formed by the Hungarian Bence Nadas. and Balint Kopasz, Olympic champion in Fernando Pimenta’s K1 1000, bronze in Tokyo 2020.
“I have a very good feeling on this track and I have one of the best athletes in Portugal behind me and it was very easy to do this race, because the Messiah has enormous confidence, gigantic self-esteem and he always gives me a lot of confidence,” he added.
As for going to Paris 2024 with the status of world champions, the 34-year-old canoeist recalled that first the pair of “good friends” must make sure they represent the country in France, since the vacancy they got is for Portugal.
“First we have to discuss among ourselves the vacant places in Portugal. Then, if we manage to go to Paris 2024 with this K2, we will fight for the best result”, he promised, recalling that “the very balanced level of these tests “does not allow us to attribute favoritism to nobody”.
Messias Batista highlighted the good start of the race and, in the final part of it, highlighted the “belief and believe differently to get to the front”.
“We knew it was possible. Having João setting the pace is something incredible for me. I was still a child when he was already rowing and now I share with him my first world title in Olympic distance…”, praised the athlete. 10 years younger.
The 24-year-old canoeist highlights the duo’s conviction that this world title “was possible”, based on confidence based on the results of the last two or three years, in which they never fell below the international top-5.
“It’s really unbelievable, I still don’t even know what to feel. We knew it was possible, but in this race every thousand counts. We have a very good friendship. We believe in each other, he asks my opinion and me because of their big difference in a boat and a team”, he highlighted.
So many times have João and Messias been there to celebrate world medals in this Olympic distance, that their teammates in and out of the water believed that “this belief made sense”.
“João said that if we didn’t get it we would die trying. But, luckily, today we are going to win the world title, today we are the best in the world!”, he concluded.
In addition to João Ribeiro and Messias Baptista, in K2 500 meters, Portugal also won the place in K1 1000, by Fernando Pimenta, also with the ‘detail’ of being crowned with the World title: Teresa Portela, in K1 500, awaits only the officialization from his place with eighth place in the final.
Source: TSF
