With suspense and excitement, Brazil wins another place in speed canoeing | olympics

He won a place with suspense and excitement in the pre-Olympic sprint canoeing competitions of the Americas. The men’s K1 1000m race guaranteed classification for the first two boats that crossed the finish line in Sarasota, Florida. Brazilian Vagner Souta, who was at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics competing in the same event, was one of the finalists, but finished in third place with a time of 3min34s615 – behind Uruguayan Maias Otero Ezcurra, who covered the thousand meters in 3min31s203, and American Jonas Ecker, with 3min33s485.

Vagner Souta celebrates Brazilian place in the K1 1000m for the Paris Olympic Games

Vagner, therefore, lost his position, right? Wrong! Vagner secured a Brazilian K1 1000m boat at the Paris Olympic Games because the pre-Olympic competition regulations do not allow an athlete from one country to win more than two places per type of boat and gender. As the United States took the two places in K2, with Jonas Ecker among the athletes, they lost the right to the K1 quota. And with that, the third-placed K1 player inherited the classification. Brazil thus reached five quotas in the sport. Remembering that the names of the athletes to fill these quotas will only be defined closer to the Games:

Men’s C1 1,000m – name to be defined (Isaquias Queiroz won the place for Brazil)
Men’s C2 500m – names to be defined (Jacky Godmann and Filipe Vinícius Vieira won the places for Brazil)
C1 200m women – name to be defined (Valdenice Conceição won the place for Brazil)
Men’s K1 1000m – name to be defined (Vagner Souta won the place for Brazil)

– Today we won a prize for kayaking at a distance of 1000 meters. Yesterday, unfortunately, we didn’t win the places in K2, but today, thank God, everything went well. I wanted to thank everyone for the fans, for Brazil. Tomorrow there is more and we will bring another place in the kayak – said the athlete, referring to Ana Paula Vergutz, who is fighting for one of the two quotas up for grabs in the women’s K1 500m.

As soon as the race ended, shortly after 2:30 pm, even the Brazilian Canoeing Confederation (CBCa) became unsure and released the following note:

– Vagner Souta came third in the Men’s K1 1000 meters, he had a time of 03:34.615s. In this category, only two athletes guarantee Olympic quota, but second place, North American Jonas Ecker, secured his place through the K2 Men’s 1000m in the race held yesterday. There is the possibility of another Olympic quota for Brazil. Officially, we must wait for a response from the International Canoeing Federation.

The Brazilian team leader, Álvaro Acco Koslowski, then contacted the event’s head of arbitration, responsible for certifying the continental places in Sarasota. He, in turn, submitted the results to the International Federation, as the United States would have to choose which place they would go, K1 or K2. K2 was the only logical choice, as athletes competing in the category could also row in K1. Even so, the Brazilian delegation waited for an official response for more than two hours.

On the first day of competitions, Brazil won the places in C2, with Filipe and Jacky, and tried in the K2 500m with Edson Isaias da Silva and Vagner Souta. The Brazilian kayaking duo ended up in third place and did not qualify for the Olympic Games.

This Wednesday, Valdenice Conceição secured the first place in the history of Brazilian women’s speed canoeing, in the C1 200m. In the afternoon, Vagner Souta qualified in the K1 1,000m. The Brazilian came third, but inherited an Olympic quota.

On Thursday (25), Ana Paula Vergutz fights for one of the two places up for grabs in the K1 500m, while Filipe Vinicius Vieira competes in the C1 500m, a race that is not part of the Olympic program.

Brazil wins two more places in speed canoeing for the Paris Olympics