Canoe party at the Olympics: Men's foursome wins gold in crime
Medal deluge for the German canoe fleet: In a thrilling final, the men's kayak four wins gold. For the women, it's silver in the same boat class. Another duo goes home empty-handed and announces their split.
The German kayak four has once again crowned itself Olympic champion at the Paris Games. After their triumph in Tokyo, the flagship boat, with Max Rendschmidt, Max Lemke, Jacob Schopf, and Tom Liebscher-Lucz, also won in the Vaires-sur-Marne water sports stadium. After 500 meters, the favored quartet led Australia and Spain. The only change was Schopf replacing Ronald Rauhe, who had retired after Tokyo.
Earlier, the German women had won silver in the kayak four. In the 500-meter final, Paulina Paszek, Jule Hake, Pauline Jagsch, and Sarah Brüssler had to settle for second place behind New Zealand. They missed out on the first Olympic gold for a German women's quartet in this event since 2008 in Beijing by just 0.42 seconds.
In 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, there had been silver medals in the kayak four. So, the German quartet's joy was immense, having even led at one point. But the strong New Zealanders counterattacked and pulled ahead. Bronze went to Hungary.
Peter Kretschmer and Tim Hecker missed out on a medal in the canoe double. The Leipzig-Berlin duo had to settle for fifth place. China won the gold. After the race, the two announced that it was their "last dance."
The German canoe fleet celebrated yet another successful Olympic Games, with the men's kayak four securing gold in the Olympic Games. Interestingly, this marks their second consecutive gold in this event, having also triumphed at the Tokyo Olympics.
Following their victory, the German women's kayak four team brought home silver in the same boat class, showcasing the strong performance of the German canoe fleet at the Olympic Games.
