(Paris) Canadian canoeists Katie Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie won the bronze medal in the 500-meter tandem event on Friday at the Paris Olympics.
Vincent, of Mississauga, Ont., and MacKenzie, of Windsor Junction, N.S., covered the distance in one minute and 54.36 seconds, behind China’s Shixiao Xu and Mengya Sun, who won gold.
The representatives of the maple leaf had a good start, but were unable to match the pace set by the Chinese, and they were surprised by the Ukrainians, who beat them in the photo finish.
PHOTO BERTRAND GUAY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Katie Vincent and Sloan Mackenzie
Vincent and MacKenzie set an Olympic record for the distance on Tuesday, finishing in 1:54.16, a time that was lowered to 1:53.73 by Shixiao and Mengya earlier in the day in the semifinals.
Three other Canadian boats failed in their quest for a medal on Friday and will instead have to settle for the ranking races later today.
Ontario kayakers Courtney Stott and Natalie Davison finished eighth in the 500m tandem semifinal in 1:42.57, while their compatriots Pierre-Luc Poulin and Simon McTavish finished sixth in the same discipline on the men’s side in 1:29.01.
For his part, canoeist Connor Fitzpatrick of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, finished eighth in the men’s 1,000m semi-final in 3:56.31.