Portugal wins C2 junior gold, reaching seven medals at marathon canoe worlds

Junior pair takes gold in Argentina

On 23 October, Duarte Cunha and Gabriel Fernandes won the C2 junior final at the marathon canoeing world championships in Gualeguaychú, Argentina, completing the course in 1:09.21,66 hours. Hungary's Vince Toth and Ákos Takács were second in 1:10.16,51, and Spain's Álvaro Pedrosa and Adrián Hermelo finished third in 1:11.03,32. The gold was Portugal's seventh medal at the championships, according to the reports. Fernandes had already won the C1 junior title on 22 October, finishing in 55 minutes and 57.74 seconds, 2.97 seconds ahead of the Czech Danylo Martynenko. On 22 October, Maria Sousa also won bronze in the women's C1 junior race, finishing in 1:04.09,40 hours behind Daria Ushakova (1:01.40,91) and Victoria Tran, who took silver in 1:02.07,86.

President António José Seguro congratulated the pair in a message published on the presidency's website. He described their win as reflecting talent, determination and dedication, and said it showed the quality of youth development in Portuguese canoeing. Seguro also singled out Gabriel Fernandes, whose C2 title joined the C1 junior world title he won at the same championships. The president extended congratulations to coaches, technical staff, clubs, the Portuguese Canoeing Federation and families, and greeted the national squad, which has seven medals at the worlds. He said:

It fills all Portuguese people with pride, confirms the vitality of national canoeing and the quality of youth development work carried out in the country.

Short races and the rest of the medal haul

Fernando Pimenta, 37 according to Observador, took bronze in the K1 short race final, which had been moved to the morning of 23 October because of a storm. He finished in 11.24,45, behind South Africa's Hamish Lovemore (11.20,92) and Denmark's Mads Pedersen (11.23,46). Pimenta was defending the world title he won last year in Hungary, so the bronze falls short of that defence. Ricardo Coelho, 27, took silver in the C1 short race in 13.06,10, 16.99 seconds behind Spain's Jaime Duro (12.49,11), after that final had been postponed from Thursday because of heavy rain. Moldova's Serghei Tarnovschi was third in 13.17,82, while Rui Lacerda finished 11th in 13.57,40. Martim Conceição took bronze in the K1 junior short race in 11.54,98, behind South Africa's Keegan Vogt (11.38,28) and Hungary's Armin Palinkas (11.51,80). Leonardo Barbosa added silver in the C1 under-23 event in 1:30.08,00.

Medal count and the programme ahead

Portugal's seven medals in Argentina comprise two golds, two silvers and three bronzes. The national marathon coach Rui Câncio had set a target of five medals, and the team reached that figure on 23 October.

Portugal has 15 athletes in Argentina across junior, under-23 and senior categories. The women's K1 under-23 race, in which Andreia Duarte was due to compete, was cancelled. Francisco dos Santos was still scheduled to race the K1 under-23 event later that day. The championship runs until Sunday, 25 October, when Fernando Pimenta and José Ramalho are due to race the senior men's K2 together.