(Photo: Disclosure/CBCa)
Brazilian Fernando Rufino won another medal for his collection. He won bronze in the KL2 200m competition at the Paracanoe World Cup, in Szeged, Hungary, this Friday morning (10). Débora Benevides (VL2 200m) and Mari Santilli and Thais Freitas (VL3 200m) also competed in the finals, but did not get a place on the podium.
Fernando Rufino, the Steel Cowboy, won the bronze medal in the KL2 200m, with a time of 43s64. He was behind Australian Curtis McGrath, gold with 42.89, and Britain’s David Phillipson, silver with 43.60. With the podium, Rufino secured his sixth medal in the Paracanoe World Championships. Now, he has two golds, two silvers and two bronzes.
The Paralympic champion You can still score another podium in this edition, in the VL2 (canoe) competition, the final of which will take place this Saturday (11), at 6:16 am (Brasília time). Rufino was a gold medalist in this event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and was world champion last year, doing a double with compatriot Igor Tofalini.
More endings
Among the other events of the day at the Paracanoe World Cup, Débora Benevides came in sixth place in the VL2 200m final, with a time of 1min05s71. She was just under four seconds away from a podium spot. Britain’s Emma Wiggs won gold in 58.69, while Canada’s Brianna Hennessy (1min00.35) and Australia’s Susan Seipel (1min02.15) took silver and bronze.
Mari Santilli and Thais Freitas were also off the podium in the VL3 200m. Mari finished in seventh place, with 1min02.10, while Thais was eighth, with 1min03.95. Great Britain achieved a gold and silver double, with Charlotte Henshaw in first place in 56.80 and Hope Gordon in second in 56.91. Uzbek Shakhzoda Mamadalieva completed the podium with 58.22.
Other evidence
Current Paralympic runner-up, Giovane Vieira de Paula came fifth in the VL3 200m semi-final and did not qualify for the final. He scored 53.90, 0.55 behind the Chinese Yi Pu, third and last classified in the decision. Another Brazilian, Tcharles Besing was also fifth in his series, clocking 54.67, and did not advance to the final by exactly two seconds.
Luis Carlos Cardoso and Luciano Lima qualified directly for the KL1 200m final. Luis won his heat in 48.07, while Luciano came second in his series in 49.26. Jean Carlos Panucci and Miqueias Elias, on the other hand, will have to compete in the semifinals in the KL3 200m. Miqueias won his heat in 43s41, while Jean was third in 43s40.
Ana Claudia Borges and Adriana Gomes de Azevedo will also have to compete in the semi-finals of the KL1 200m. Adriana was fourth in her series, while Ana finished in fifth place. Another who will need the semifinal is Aline Furtado, who was fourth in the KL3 200m series. Finally, Uilian Mendes won the B final of the KL2 200m and finished in tenth place overall.
22 years old from São Paulo. Journalist graduated from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). I’ve been at Olimpíada Todo Dia since 2022. I covered the World University Games in Chengdu and the Pan-American Games in Santiago-2023.
