Canada Secures Tokyo 2020 Qualification in Szeged

August 25, 2019

Canoe Kayak Canada - SZEGED, HUNGARY (August 24, 2019) – Day four of the 2019 ICF Sprint/Paracanoe World Championships wrapped up on Saturday in Szeged, Hungary with Olympic qualification in two events including the women’s C1 200m event. Katie Vincent (Mississauga, ON) finished fifth overall securing a berth for Canada for Tokyo 2020 for the first time ever in women's canoe.

“This is the proudest moment I’ve had as an athlete,” said Vincent. “I’m glad I could get the job done for Team Canada.”

Photo: Bence Vekassy/Canoe Photography

The men’s K4 crew of Mark de Jonge (Maskwa, NS), Nicholas Matveev (Balmy Beach, ON), Pierre-Luc Poulin (Lac-Beauport, QC) and Simon McTavish (Mississauga, ON) placed fifth in their semi-final today securing another Tokyo 2020 berth for Canada and will race in the B Final tomorrow.

“I am very proud of what Katie accomplished today. To be told at the last minute you will be racing C1 and the devastating news about her partner is a testament to her competitive spirit,” said Chief Technical Officer, Graham Barton. “Additionally, to qualify the men’s K4 takes some pressure off going into tomorrow’s B Final. It was not their best race today but they know they can be much better and have shown it this year with a 4th place A final finish at the first World Cup.”

On the women’s side, Courtney Stott (Balmy Beach, ON), Lissa Bissonnette (Pointe-Claire, QC), Natalie Davison (Rideau, ON) and Michelle Russell (Cheema, NS) finished 4th in the semi-final and will advance to the B final on Sunday as well.

Roland Varga (Richmond Hill, ON) and Connor Fitzpatrick (Senobe, NS) finished 2nd in the B final today in the C2 1000m. The duo set a new Canadian record in the semi-finals yesterday with a time of 3:28.74.

Para athlete Trinity Tratch (Calgary, AB) raced in the KL2 200m, finishing 2nd in the B Final.

Michelle Russell (Cheema, NS) wrapped up her K1 200m event in 7th in the B Final today while on the men’s side, Alex Scott (Maskwa, NS) finished 8th in the B Final.

Natalie Davison (Rideau, ON) and Courtney Stott (Balmy Beach, ON) finished fourth in their K2 500m B final today while Madeline Schmidt heads to the C Final tomorrow in the K1 500m. Brian Malfesi and Vincent Jourdenais have qualified for the B Final tomorrow in the K2 1000m.

Stay tuned for the last day of Canadian finals action Sunday including the K1 500m, K4 500m, C1 1000m, K2 1000m, and C1 5000m.
Photo: Bence Vekassy/Canoe Photography.
How to follow:
All races will be available to watch on Planet Canoe’s YouTube here, as well as on CBC Sports here.
 
Visit the event website here for results.
 
To view the ICF Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification system, click here.
 
To view Canada’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Team Criteria, click here.
 
To view Canada’s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Team Criteria, click here.
 
 
Visit Canoe Kayak Canada’s website to get more information and make sure to follow @PlanetCanoe and @CanoeKayakCAN for more live updates.
 
RESULTS HERE
 

About Canoe Kayak Canada
  Canoe Kayak Canada is the national governing body for competitive paddling in Canada, one of Canada’s top performing summer sports with a total of 24 Olympic medals, and a leader in the Paralympic movement. Canoe Kayak Canada is a member-based organization that includes an intricate network of clubs as well as provincial, territorial and divisional paddling associations. Elite National Team athletes proudly represent Canada at various competitions around the globe – most notably the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan American Games, ICF World Cups as well as Junior, Under 23 and Senior World Championships.