Canoeist Isaquias Queiroz won the silver medal in the C1 1000 meter category at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. With this feat, he won his fifth Olympic medal, behind only gymnast Rebeca Andrade, with six medals.
In a thrilling race at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, the canoeist managed to climb from fifth place, more than 2 seconds behind the leader, to come in second, behind only Martin Fuksa from the Czech Republic. The bronze went to Serghei Tarnovschi from Moldova.
To give you an idea of the high level of the event, the time achieved by the gold medalist was the best Olympic time of all time, at 3:43.16. In the sport, the term “record” is not used due to the different nautical conditions of each event. The Brazilian clocked 3:44.33; and Tarnovschi finished the event with a time of 3.44.68.
At the start of the race, Isaquias was positioned in the second group, fighting for fourth place, about 1 second behind the Czech, who was already in the lead. Isaquias was in fifth place when the race reached the halfway point (500 meters).
As expected, it was from this moment that the Brazilian began to stand out. In the last quarter of the race (750m), the Brazilian was already recovering, and he was in fourth place, reducing the gap to the leaders.
Isquias managed to make up more than 2 seconds in the last 250 meters, finishing the race in second place. German Sebastian Brendel, one of the favorites for gold, made a strategic error, which left him tired at the end of the race, finishing in last place.
In addition to the silver medal obtained in Paris, the Brazilian canoeist has already won gold in the C1 1000m in Tokyo 2020; silver in the C1 1000m and C2 500m in Rio 2016; and bronze in the C1 200m, also at the Brazil Games.
With this feat, Isaquias equals Robert Scheidt and Torben Grael in the number of Olympic medals, each with five medals. Gymnast Rebeca Andrade is the most decorated Brazilian, with six medals.
Ironically, Isaquias is from Ubaitaba (BA), a Tupi-Guarani term that means “city of canoes”, as the Brazilian Olympic Committee rightly recalled in its website, when reporting the canoeist’s history.
