- Men's kayak four creates Olympic gold hat trick
The two kayak fours secured two medals on the first decision day of the canoeing competition at the Olympic Games in Paris. The men's world champion crew won gold in a thrilling 500m final, edging out Australia by just four hundredths of a second. Max Rendschmidt, Max Lemke, Jacob Schopf, and Tom Liebscher-Lucz triumphed. Spain took bronze.
Earlier, the women's kayak four won silver over 500m at the Nautical Stadium in Vaires-sur-Marne. Paulina Paszek, Jule Hake, Pauline Jagsch, and Sarah Brüßler narrowly lost to New Zealand. They missed out on Germany's first Olympic gold in this event since 2008 in Beijing by just 0.42 seconds.
In a photo finish, the German men's crew secured gold, just as they did in Tokyo. Rendschmidt set the pace with 140 strokes per minute. Liebscher-Lucz, who was in the boat in Rio and moved back a seat in Tokyo, provided the necessary power from behind. Spain led at the halfway point, but the German crew pushed ahead on the second half and held off a late challenge from Australia.
The women's crew had previously won silver in 2012 and 2016. They led at one point but were overtaken by New Zealand. Hungary took bronze.
Prior to this, Peter Kretschmer and Tim Hecker missed out on a medal in the men's canoe double (C2) 1000m, finishing fifth. China won gold.
The men's canoeing team from Germany exhibited their dominance once more, claiming another gold medal in the 500m event at the Olympic Games, marking their second consecutive victory in this event after Tokyo.
Despite not participating in the kayak four event, Germany still boasts a rich history in canoeing, having secured an Olympic gold medal in this event back in 2008 in Beijing.
