Canadian sprint canoeists Vincent, MacKenzie win bronze medal

PARIS, France –

Katie Vincent has had two very different Olympic experiences. Now she has two Olympic bronze medals, too.

Vincent, from Mississauga, Ont., and Sloan MacKenzie of Windsor Junction, N.S., claimed bronze in the women’s doubles 500-metre sprint canoe final at the Paris Games on Friday.

Paris has been “100 per cent different” than the Tokyo Games, where Vincent finished third in the same race alongside Laurence Vincent-Lapointe of Shawinigan, Que.

“In Tokyo, coming down the last 100 metres, it’s just (former Olympic champion rower) Marnie McBean banging on her drum. Here, there’s like 20,000 people screaming and cheering,” Vincent said.

“There are special moments from Tokyo and it was a special experience, but I know my family’s here, Sloan’s family’s here. And I think just knowing that they’re out there cheering for us and celebrating with us, I think we’re going to have a lot more excitement and a lot more joy.”

The Canadians posted a time of one minute 54.36 seconds in Friday’s final.

After starting out strong and challenging China for much of the race, the duo paddled to a photo finish with Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok, who had a late burst to catch up with — and eventually pass — Canada to take silver with 1:54.30.

In the moments before the result was clarified, MacKenzie wasn’t thinking about what colour medal she’d won.

“(I was thinking) that was really hard and I’m in pain,” said the 22-year-old first-time Olympian.

China’s Shixiao Xu and Mengya Sun won gold with an Olympic-record time of 1:52.81.

The podium was an exact replica of Tokyo’s finish, where China took gold, Ukraine silver and Canada bronze.

“Oh, man. That Chinese crew, they’ve got it all figured out,” Vincent said. “They have been pretty perfect for the last three years, haven’t had a slip. So I’m honestly just so proud to see our sport at that level.”

Friday was a busy day for Canadian paddlers at Stade Nautique on the outskirts of Paris.

Kayakers Courtney Stott of Pickering, Ont., and Natalie Davidson of Manotick, Ont., finished eighth in their semifinal, then came seventh in the non-medal final of the women’s doubles 500m race with a time of 1:46.96.

On the men’s side, Pierre-Luc Poulin of Lac-Beauport, Que., and Simon McTavish of Oakville, Ont., came sixth in the men’s doubles 500m semifinal, then placed second in their non-medal final, finishing in 1:30.80.

Canoeist Connor Fitzpatrick of Dartmouth, N.S., struggled in his semifinal in the men’s 1,000m race, coming in eighth. He regrouped and finished sixth in his non-medal final with a time of 3:52.46.

The 26-year-old two-time Olympian said he struggled to find his rhythm on Friday.

“I’m obviously disappointed with how it went,” he said. “I’ll come back stronger. There’s a silver lining to this and everything will be all right.”

Asked what he learned from Paris, Fitzpatrick gave a simple answer.

“Just that everyone’s unbelievable,” he said.

It’s a lesson he plans to use on his path to the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“Obviously, I’ll take some time to go home and process everything that’s happened here and relax a little bit,” he said. “But definitely going to get back to work and come back a whole different person in 2028.”

For some of Canada’s other paddlers, there’s still work to be done in Paris.

Vincent will return to the water Saturday to compete in the women’s single canoe 200m race. She’ll be up against fellow Canadian Sophia Jensen, of Chelsea, Que.

The 22-year-old Jensen is coming off a bronze medal performance at the Pan American Games in Chile last summer.

Canada will also be represented in the women’s kayak single 500m race, where Michelle Russell of Fall River, N.S., and Dartmouth’s Riley Melanson will compete.

Before turning her attention to Friday’s races, Vincent planned to revel in her success — albeit briefly.

“I think I’ll enjoy this a little bit for a few hours,” she said. “We’ve always trained with discipline, we race with discipline. So all through the highs and lows, we’re just going to go tomorrow and execute the way we want to.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2024.