MADRID, 7 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spanish canoeists Estefanía Fernández and Begoña Lazkano, in K1 500; Paco Cubelos and Adrián del Río, in K1 1000; and Pablo Crespo, in C1 1000, advanced this Wednesday to the semi-finals in the canoe sprint at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, after all of them passed the quarter-final round, which they had to go through based on their performance in the qualifying series.
The first to make it to the semi-finals at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium were Fernández and Lazkano in a single kayak. The Extremaduran, whose main objective is the K4, finished sixth in her series and had to play for her ticket to the semis in the quarterfinals. It was then that she had no problems in advancing, in a race that was predictably more accessible, finishing in second place, with a time of
A process that the San Sebastian native also went through and that the entire Spanish team repeated. Lazkano was fourth in the qualifier, the same position in which she crossed the finish line in the quarter-finals, marking a time of 1:53.83.
In the men’s category, in the K1 1000, Cubelos and Del Río experienced different competitions. The former came close to the semi-finals with a third place in his series, after fighting until the last metre against the Swede Martin Nathel. Therefore, he had to do his homework in the quarter-finals.
In that race, the Talavera de la Reina native was second (3:33.74), behind Adrián del Río, who had no chance in his qualifier, but who did lead the Spanish double in the quarterfinals with a time of 3:30.39. And the full house in those ‘semis’ of the Spanish boats that left today for Vaires-sur-Marne was completed by Pablo Crespo, in C1 1000 in his first Games, who was the second best paddler in his round (3:50.24), after pushing the Italian Carlo Tacchini until the end.