Sebastian Brendel and Olympic debutant Tim Hecker won the first medal for the German canoeists in the Canadian two-man bronze medal. For the duo from Potsdam and Berlin on Tuesday over the 1000-meter distance, however, it was not quite enough for the hoped-for gold.
On the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo, 33-year-old Brendel and his 23-year-old new partner Hecker had to give way to the Cubans Sergey Torres Madrigal and Fernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez as well as the Chinese world champions Liu Hao and Zhen Pengfei.
Best time in the run-up
For the final run, Brendel and Hecker were able to qualify as the fastest with an Olympic best time. With hot temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius and light winds, it was not enough, even if the German team came up again in the final sprint.
Brendel has another chance for a medal in Tokyo – the third gold for the Olympic champion of London and Rio in this discipline would be a historic achievement. Brendel is the top favorite at the start. The heats will start on Friday, the medals will be awarded on Saturday.
Five years ago in Rio, the German Canoe Association won four golds and a total of seven podium places – it was the strongest Olympic result since Athens 2004.
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