Men’s K1 1000m
Fernando Pimenta (Portugal) is the reigning world champion, winning his third title after picking up his first in 2018. He also has two silver medals, two bronzes and an Olympic bronze medal from Tokyo. The Olympic champion in Tokyo was Balint Kopasz (Hungary). He is a double world champion, winning in 2019 in 2022. She won the 2023 World Cup Final. She was the 2022 European champion, but only won silver in 2024. Behind him in Tokyo, winning silver was Adam Varga (Hungary). He won World Cup events in 2023 in Szeged and Poznan but finished second in both the World Cup Final and World Championship. Jakob Thordsen (Germany) would win bronze in the 2023 World Championship. In fourth place in both the 2022 and 2023 World Championship was Thomas Green (Australia). He also finished second in two 2022 World Cup events. Josef Dostal (Czechia) was a silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics and has won medals of all colours at the World Championships. Artuur Peters (Belgium) is a double European bronze medalist and has finished sixth at the last two World Championships. Martin Nathell (Sweden) impressed when finishing fourth at the 2023 World Cup Final. Other potential contenders include Agustin Vernice (Argentina) who is the Pan-American Games winner, Anton Winkelmann (Germany), Francesco Cubelos (Spain), Maxime Beaumont (France) and Rene Holtsen Poulsen (Denmark).
This should come down to either Kopasz, Pimenta or Varga. They have been the strongest over the past few years. It feels like a generational match-up with Pimenta probably past his best. Varga looks like the future of the event whilst Kopasz probably remains the current. If one of them isn't at their best, it leaves an open spot on the podium. I think that would come down to the veteran Dostal against the young contenders Green and Thordsen. Green is probably the major threat
🥇Balint Kopasz 🇭🇺
🥈Adam Varga 🇭🇺
🥉Fernando Pimenta 🇵🇹
Men’s K2 500m
This event makes a return after missing three Olympics. Germany have won medals in the last five editions of the event. They have had many different variations of pairings over the last few years. The strongest is probably Lemke/Schopf (Germany) who won a 2024 World Cup event in Poznan. Rendschmidt/Liebscher-Lucz (Germany) finished behind them in second. Germade/Arevalo (Spain) features half of a bronze medal winning pair at the 2023 World Championship whilst Germade has two previous World Championship golds. The world champions in 2023 were Ribeiro/Baptista (Portugal) improving from fifth in 2022. Nadas/Totka (Hungary) are the current European champions and won a World Cup event last season. Maldonis/Olijnik (Lithuania) were second in that World Championship and third in the Europeans. Van der Westhuyzen/Green (Australia) could only finish fourth at the 2023 World Championship after winning bronze in 2022. They are consistent podium finishers on the World Cup stage as well. Spicar/Havel (Czechia) came fourth in the 2022 World Championship before finishing fifth in 2023. Ecker/Small (United States) and Stepun/Korsak (Poland) are other possible contenders.
This is a tough event to predict as no one team has been consistently dominant. The Lithuanian team disappointed at the 2023 World Championship which puts me off. The German teams are hard to work out given the reshuffling of their pairings. The battle for the medals comes down to Australia, Germany, Hungary, Portugal and Spain.
🥇Thomas Green/Jean van der Westhuyzen 🇦🇺
🥈Joao Ribeiro/Messias Baptista 🇵🇹
🥉Max Lemke/Jacob Schopf 🇩🇪
Men’s K4 500m
Germany are the reigning Olympic champions have been dominant in World Championships. They won in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023, finishing second in 2022. The team that beat them in 2022 was Spain who were the Olympic silver medalists. Hungary were second in the 2023 World Championship after finishing third in the 2023 Szeged World Cup event. Ukraine were world champions in a depleted field in 2021, but have won bronze in the two years since. They also won a 2023 World Cup event in Poznan. Australia were second in Poznan and have finished fourth at the 2018 and 2023 World Championships. In 2022, Canada were the runners up in Poznan. They also only finished second in the 2023 Pan-American Games. Lithuania won the 2023 World Cup event in Szeged. Denmark were third in two 2023 World Cup events, one of which was the final. Serbia came third in the 2023 European Games whilst China were the 2023 Asian Games winners. New Zealand are also competing but will not be expected to find the podium.
Germany went through a dominant run but had a bit of a downturn. They have now rebounded and look strong again. Spain have consistently been a decent team but their one failing was the 2023 World Championship. Hungary are also strong along with Ukraine. Australia, Denmark and Lithuania have shown an ability to compete on their best days. It feels unlikely that Canada, China or Serbia make the podium. I think Germany can take gold ahead of Hungary. Behind them will be a battle between Spain and Ukraine, and I edge to the consistency of Spain.
🥇Germany 🇩🇪
🥈Hungary 🇭🇺
🥉Spain 🇪🇸
Men’s C1 1000m
The last two Olympic champions will compete in Paris. Isaquias Queiroz (Brazil) is the reigning champion and 2019 world champion. He also won silver in 2022. Sebastian Brendel (Germany) was the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion. At 36, he may be past his best but he did win bronze at the 2023 World Championship. The current world champion is Martin Fuksa (Czechia). Usually the bridesmaid he has been runner up on five different occasions and was the 2022 bronze medalist. He has won World Cup events over the last few years taking Poznan and Recice in 2022 whilst winning Poznan in 2023. World Championship silver medalist and 2022 World Champion Catalin Chirila (Romania) won the 2023 World Cup event in Szeged. Wiktor Glazunow (Poland) has been competitive recently in World Cup events and finished fourth in the 2023 World Championship. Balasz Adolf (Hungary) was behind him in fifth but has a World Championship bronze from 2021. Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Serghei Tarnovschi (Moldova) will return as a contender but his World Championship results since have not been as impressive. Behind him in Tokyo was Adrien Bart (France). He is a former World Championship bronze medalist and also finished fourth at the 2022 World Championship. Fernando Jorge (Refugee) also competed at that last Olympics for Cuba. They will be represented by Jose Ramon Pelier (Cuba), the Pan-American Games winner in 2023. The 2023 Asian Games winner was Lai Kuan-chieh (Taiwan). Other potential contenders include Daniel Fejes (Hungary) and Nicolae Craciun (Italy).
It feels like there is a top seven of real medal contenders. Fuksa and Chirila are the dominant canoeists in the past two years and it is hard to see beyond them for the top two steps on the podium. Other contenders are Adolf, Bart, Brendel, Glazunow and Queiroz. It feels like Brendel is past his best or else he would be on the podium. Instead I will give it to Queiroz but Bart is a serious contender in Frnace.
🥇Martin Fuksa 🇨🇿
🥈Catalin Chirila 🇷🇴
🥉Isaquias Queiroz 🇧🇷
Men’s C2 500m
This event has not taken place since 2008, when China won their second straight gold medal. They will be represented by Liu/Ji (China). At the 2023 World Championship they won silver after winning bronze in 2022. The current world champions are Kretschmer/Hecker (Germany). Italy had a few options including the 2021 world champions but it will be Casadei/Tacchini (Italy). They were the 2023 European Games winners and also won a World Cup event in Poznan in 2023. Petrov/Korovashkov (Russia) have been put together. That is despite Korovashkov forming a strong partnership with Shtyl earlier in the year. They both have a strong pedigree in this event, but it felt like a strange decision. Fuksa/Fuksa (Czechia) were runners up in the 2023 World Cup Final. Leonard/Bart (France) only finished sixth but they did come fourth in the 2023 World Championship. Sprincean/Nuta (Romania) were the sixth place finishers.Moreno/Dominguez (Spain) were runners-up in the 2024 World Cup event in Szeged which actually got them to be the Spanish pairing ahead of the historically stronger Garcia/Martinez. Behind them in Szeged were Adolf/Hadju (Hungary).
I think again there is probably about six realistic contenders for the medals. You have to fear the Russian pair who are clearly strong but it is hard to put them in the medal spots given their lack of competition preparation. China look to be favourites, having been the most consistent team. Germany are the currently world champions though and it feels remiss to leave them off the podium. Italy and France are the other two contenders with Hungary and Spain basically competing with new pairings.
🥇Hao Liu/Bowen Ji 🇨🇳
🥈Peter Kretschmer/Tim Hecker 🇩🇪
🥉Gabriele Casadei/Carlo Tacchini 🇮🇹
Women’s K1 500m
Hungary have won two of the last three golds and medals each of the last four Olympics. Tamara Csipes (Hungary) was the silver medal winner in Tokyo and has won World Championship medals in both 2021 and 2023. Lisa Carrington (New Zealand) beat her to gold in Tokyo to take her total to five Olympic gold medals along with her fifteen World Championship golds. She has showed no signs of slowing down, winning the last two World Championships and still performing well at World Cup events. Compatriot Aimee Fisher (New Zealand) was the 2021 world champion. She has won two World Cup events this season. Emma Jorgensen (Denmark) has also won medals at the last two Olympics, a silver in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo. She won the 2023 World Cup event in Poznan and the European Games before finishing second in the 2023 World Championship. Anamaria Govorcinovic (Croatia) was the silver medalist in the 2022 World Championship. In seventh in Tokyo was Teresa Portela (Portugal) and she is a consistent presence in major finals. Linna Stensils (Sweden) was fifth in Tokyo before improving to fourth at the 2021 World Championship. Alyce Wood (Australia) also competed in the Olympic final, finishing eight but improved to fifth at the 2023 World Championship. Ahead of in fourth was Milica Novakovic (Serbia) who won bronze at the 2023 European Games. Michelle Russell (Canada) won the 2023 Pan-American Games ahead of Brenda Rojas (Argentina) and Mariya Povkh (Ukraine) are also potential contenders.
It feels like there is a top four with two contenders who could break onto the podium. The three ladies who won medals at the last Olympics will be hoping to hold off Fisher, Govorcinovic and Novakovic. I think Fisher has become the strongest in the world, already beating Carrington this season. Jorgensen is the one who misses out on the podium.
🥇Aimee Fisher 🇳🇿
🥈Lisa Carrington 🇳🇿
🥉Tamara Csipes 🇭🇺
Women’s K2 500m
Poland have medalled at every Olympics since the turn of the century. They have the returning Olympic silver medalists in Naja/Pulawska (Poland). They were the 2022 World and European champions. Compatriots Klatt/Wisniewska (Poland) won silver at the 2023 World Championship. The current world champions are Matthiesen/Jorgensen (Denmark), after finishing second in the 2023 European Games. Second at the 2022 European Championships was Peters/Broekx (Belgium). They finished fourth at the 2023 World Championship after two bronzes at the previous World Championships. Paszek/Hake (Germany) won bronze at the 2023 World Championship. They had won silver in 2022 but only finished third in the 2022 European Championship. Stensils/Wikberg (Sweden) have made the last two World Championship finals but haven’t been near the medals. Carrington/Hoskin (New Zealand) won at the 2023 World Cup Final and have won two Wold Cup events to start the year. Hostens/Paoletti (France) were fifth in the 2023 World Championship. Csipes/Gaszo (Hungary) won bronze at the 2023 European Games and 2024 European Championship.
Neither France nor Sweden have the back form required for me to predict that they will medal. This looks like a battle between the Polish pair who have been strongest over a long period or the New Zealand team who has been best this year. I will side with Carrington and Hoskin to take gold. Behind them this should come down to Belgium, Denmark and Germany, I will edge to the Danish team.
🥇Lisa Carrington/Alicia Hoskin 🇳🇿
🥈Karolina Naja/Anna Pulawska 🇵🇱
🥉Frederikke Matthiesen/Emma Jorgensen 🇩🇰
Women’s K4 500m
Hungary have medalled at every Olympics since the turn of the century. It is a record they will be hoping to extend but they have not been at their best recently. After winning the 2017, 2018 and 2019 World Championships along with the Tokyo Olympics, they only got silver in the 2021 World Championship and have not medalled at the last two. Current world champions are New Zealand. Behind them were Poland who also have a strong Olympic record in this event. They were third at the Tokyo Olympics but won World and European Championships in 2022. Third place finishers in 2023 were Spain, improving on fourth in 2022. That position was filled by China in 2023 but they did win the 2023 World Cup Final and the Asian Games. Germany were the 2022 European Games silver medalist and finished third in the 2023 World Cup Final. Australia are past World Championship medalists, finishing second in 2022 but could only finish fifth in 2023. Canada, Norway and Serbia are probably making up the numbers.
This feels like another really competitive event with a number of teams able to win. I edge to a strong Polish team to take gold but New Zealand are always contenders. China have also shown the ability to beat impressive fields. Out of the rest of the contenders I would expect Germany and Spain to be the likeliest to break onto the podium.
🥇Poland 🇵🇱
🥈China 🇨🇳
🥉New Zealand 🇳🇿
Women’s C1 200m
Nevin Harrison (United States) became Olympic champion in Tokyo at only 19 in the inaugural competing of the event. She is also the 2019 and 2022 world champion but could only finish fourth in 2023. Liudmyla Luzan(Ukraine) was the Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo. She won the 2023 World Cup event in Poznan and was also second in the 2023 European Games and 2022 European Championships. Antia Jacome (Spain) was the 2022 European champion to add to her silvers at the 2021 and 2023 World Championships. The world champion in 2023 was Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys (Cuba). She’s also been very successful on the World Cup scene, winning events in 2022 and 2023. The European Games winner was Dorota Borowska (Poland). She was fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and has two World Championship bronzes from 2018 and 2021. Katie Vincent (Canada) won the 2021 World Championship. She was also runner up at the 2023 World Cup Final and won the World Cup event in Szeged earlier in the year. Maria Corbera (Spain) won silver at the 2022 World Championship and was the fourth placed finisher at the 2023 World Cup Final. Olesia Romasenko (Russia) is a three-time World Championship silver medalist but it is hard to get a strong reading on her from. Bronze medalist at the last two World Championships was Lin Wenjun (China). Another World Championship bronze medalist was Kincso Takacs (Hungary), but that was way back in 2017. Maria Mailliard (Chile) has twice finished fourth at World Championships and twice fifth. She won bronze at the 2023 World Cup Final. Sophia Jensen (Canada) and Valdenice do Nascimento (Brazil) are outside contenders.
This feels like another field with lots of potential medalists and no clear dominant figure. Harrison had been that person but she did struggle at the 2023 World Championship. She is only young so should still be improving and I have to give her the credit bounce back. Jacome and Corbera are both strong so give Spain a decent chance of medalling. Borowska and Luzan’s result show a mix bag but clearly makes them capable of being involved here. Duboys and Wenjun have wins over the last year in world competitions. Vincent is another who had a moment where she looked like the dominant figure. I think she ends up in bronze medal position, just edging Jacome.
🥇Nevin Harrison 🇺🇸
🥈Lin Wenjun 🇨🇳
🥉Katie Vincent 🇨🇦
Women’s C2 500m
Xu/Sun (China) will line up as heavy favourites for the competition. They are the reigning Olympic champions and have won three of the last four World Championships. The exception came in 2021, when they missed out on competing due to Covid. Instead Luzan/Chetverikova took the crown. That pair are Olympic and World Championship silver medalists but a different pair will race here. Luzan/Rybachok (Ukraine) were runners-up in a World Cup in Poznan earlier this season. Corbera/Jacome (Spain) who were 2023 World Championship silver medalists. Behind them was the pair of Mackenzie/Vincent (Canada). Vincent has an Olympic bronze and two world titles from a previous partnership but will be looking to add to that here. Fourth place at the 2023 World Championship were Jahn/Kliemke (Germany). Kiss/Nagy (Hungary) were the 2024 European Champions. Cociu/Olarasu (Moldova) and Duboys/Lamadrid (Cuba) are both also possible contenders.
This feels like the canoe sprint event that has most dominant competitor. The Chinese pair are clear of rivals and it would take an almighty shock for them not to win gold. Behind them will be more intriguing. Canada’s pair really came on last season and I think they are in pole position for a medal. Behind them all of Hungary, Spain and Ukraine are potential contenders. I edge to Spain but wouldn’t be a shock whoever medals.
🥇Shixiao Xu/Mengya Sun 🇨🇳
🥈Sloan MacKenzie/Katie Vincent 🇨🇦
🥉Maria Corbera/Antia Jacome 🇪🇸
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