TOKYO -- The path may have been winding, but canoe sprinters Laurence Vincent Lapointe and Katie Vincent still qualified for the semifinal of the C-2 500 metres at the Tokyo Olympics Friday.
Failing to advance directly to the semifinal after finishing third in their heat on Tokyo's Sea Forest Waterway, Vincent Lapointe of Trois-Rivieres, Que., and Vincent of Mississauga, Ont., rebounded to win their quarterfinal in two minutes 2.259 seconds.
The semifinal will take place Saturday.
The Canadian pair, world champions in 2017 and 2018, failed to move directly from the heat to the semifinal after crossing the finish line with a time of 2:02.170, one second behind the second-place team from Germany.
Only the top two teams in heats go directly to the semifinal. The others move onto the quarterfinal first.
It was obviously not the most straightforward path for Vincent Lapointe and Vincent. The quarterfinals, which began at 11:27 a.m. local time, took place under a blazing sun with a temperature of 32 C, though it felt like 39 C.
Because of the oppressive heat, the Canadian team preferred that Vincent Lapointe and Vincent not meet reporters on-site following the day's races "for health reasons."
"Because the interviews with the rights holders went long, the coach preferred to take them out of the mixed zone immediately. Our priority is to win a medal here and protect the health of our athletes," said a Canoe Kayak Canada attache.
The athletes from other nations all made their way through the mixed zone.
"It was quite difficult after the day (Thursday) to return on the water because it was a very emotional day and physically exhausting," Vincent Lapointe said by text message, roughly 90 minutes after the race. "But we approached our (Friday) races one at a time, doing our best to stick to our race plan. I'm happy it worked out well."
Women's canoe is making its debut at the Olympic Games.
On Thursday, Vincent Lapointe won silver in the C-1 200 behind young American sensation Nevin Harrison, the 19-year-old reigning world champion.
After the race, Harrison was full of praise for Vincent Lapointe, saying she grew up watching the Canadian race and was happy to compete against her in Tokyo.
"I had the chance to speak with Nevin and it was very pleasant," said Vincent-Lapointe. "She told me she was very happy we got to compete and I have to admit I'm proud of her. We both had a good race and did our best. I'm glad to see new women bursting onto the world stage."
Canada had an otherwise difficult day on the water, particularly in the women's K-4 500.
The team of Andreanne Langlois, Michelle Russell, Alanna Bray-Lougheed and Madeline Schmidt were eyeing a top-five finish at the Tokyo Olympics. Instead, they lost their semifinal, finishing in last place (eighth).
"We had a good race, but it just wasn't enough today. The other athletes were super fast," said Langlois from the mixed zone. "One of the best teams in the world finished sixth.
"It's hard to say if that was the best performance we had in us. I don't think so, but it wasn't our worst. As athletes, we always want more and it's heartbreaking ... It pains me for my team. I think we deserve better, but we weren't able to translate that into results on the water."
The four Canadians will compete in the B final.
"It's hard to say that something went wrong," said Bray-Lougheed. "We did have a really good race, we followed our plan, the boat was smooth, we were working together, which is so key in K-4. We had 16 crews here that are top in the world. We came out here trying to perform our best. I don't think that was quite our best. I'm really disappointed, but quite proud as well."
On the men's side, Pierre-Luc Poulin, Nicholas Matveev, Mark de Jonge and Simon McTavish reached the semifinal by finishing fifth in their quarterfinal.
In the C-1 1000, Connor Fitzpatrick of Dartmouth, N.S., missed direct qualification by finishing third in his heat. But he recovered in the quarterfinal, finishing second in 4:09.622, two seconds behind race winner Wiktor Glazunow of Poland to move on to the semifinal.
Roland Varga of Aurora, Ont., saw his Olympics come to an end after he finished sixth in his quarterfinal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2021.
