Marilou Duvernay-Tardif and her quadruple scull teammates were in action last weekend in Lucerne, Switzerland, during the Olympic qualifying regatta. The Canadian boat took third place in the final, where the first two earned their ticket to the Olympic Games.
Duvernay-Tardif and her teammates Shannon Kennedy, Carling Zeeman and Katie Clark saw the Ukrainians and Americans take the lead in the first 1,000 meters of the final. The Canadian troop, however, did not give up and managed to come back, but time ultimately ran out on them.
The United States and Ukraine therefore obtain the last two tickets available in quadruple sculls for the Paris Olympic Games.
In total, nine nations will be in action at the Olympic Games in the quarter pairs. The United States and Ukraine join Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, China, Switzerland, Australia and Romania, who secured their places at the World Championships, in September 2023.
At the worlds, Canada finished fourth in the B final, no Quebecer was part of the crew at that time. Marilou Duvernay-Tardif took part in the World Championships in the double sculls alongside Katie Clark.
On the men’s side, Montreal’s Terek Breen and his teammates in the eight suffered a similar fate by taking third place in the final. The first two countries to cross the finish line qualified for the Olympic Games.
Canada battled with Italy until the very last moment. The Italians finally had the upper hand, finishing a hundredth of a second ahead of the Canadian boat. The United States won.
Remember that the women’s eight, which includes Montrealer Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, had obtained its ticket to the Paris Olympic Games thanks to its fifth place at the World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, last September.