Mark de Jonge
(photo: Balint Vekassy)
MILAN, ITALY – Mark de Jonge of Halifax, NS has captured another gold medal in the Men’s K1 200m at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships to become a two-time World Champion. de Jonge went into the competition as the defending World Champion and World Record holder in the event after winning last year’s Championships in Moscow.
In a lightning fast sprint that often comes down to a photo finish, de Jonge jolted out to a lead and held off the competition. He won by a visible margin of 0.191 of a second over France’s Maxime Beaumont who took the silver and Sweden’s Petter Menning who took the bronze.
“It feels pretty good because it is so close between the top three of us here the entire season, so lining up next to them was a little daunting,” de Jonge said after his race. “I tried to focus on what I had to do and right off the start I had a bit of a lead so I was able to just keep pretty cool for the race. The plan was to kill it the first 50 because I know I’m pretty good after that.”
de Jonge is an Olympic bronze medalist from 2012 and will go into the 2016 Olympic year as the frontrunner. Today’s result also qualifies Canada a quota spot in the Men’s K1 200m and de Jonge will still have to qualify for the Canadian team next year.
Eight-time World Champion Laurence Vincent-Lapointe of Trois-Rivières, QC finished just off the podium in fourth place in the Women’s C1 200m. She was behind after the start and despite a vigorous effort to battle back, was not able to close the gap. The level of competition in Women’s Canoe has been increasing every year as the event is a likely prospect for inclusion at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. There were a total of forty entries in the Women’s C1 200m this year. The gold medal went to Bulgaria, silver to Hungary and bronze to Belarus.
In the Men’s C2 1000m, Ben Russell (Dartmouth, NS) and Gabriel Beauchesne-Sévigny (Trois-Rivières, QC) finished ninth in the final. The crew has been fourth at the last two World Championships and after a strong showing this season missed the top-six result they needed to secure Canada a quota spot for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Canada will have an additional opportunity to earn a quota in the event next May at the Pan American Canoe Sprint Championship and Continental Olympic Qualifier in Gainesville, Georgia.
Émilie Fournel
(photo: Balint Vekassy)
Émilie Fournel wins bronze in K1 5000m
In non-Olympic events, Émilie Fournel of Montréal, QC won a bronze medal in the Women’s K1 5000m long distance race. She was 7.53 seconds off the winner, Maryna Litvinchuk from Belerus, and 3.57 seconds off of silver medalist Lani Belcher of Great Britain.
Genevieve Orton (Lake Echo, NS) and Una Lounder (Dartmouth, NS) finished eighth in the final of the Women’s K2 200m. The 200m is the non-Olympic distance.
Michelle Russell and Men’s K4 seventh in B-finals
Michelle Russell of Fall River, NS ranked sixteenth overall in the Women’s K1 200m with a seventh place finish in the B-final today.
The Men’s K4 1000m crew of Brady Reardon (Burlington, ON), Adam van Koeverden (Oakville, ON), Pierre-Luc Poulin (Lac Beauport, QC) and Philippe Duchesneau (Sherbrooke, QC) were sixteenth overall with a seventh place finish in the B-final. The top ten countries with representation from four continents earned Olympic quotas. Argentina was third in the same race and took the top spot for the Pan American countries to earn a quota spot in the event. K4 quotas can only be qualified at World Championships and not at the continental level.
The Canadian team will return to Canada on Monday and will head straight to Ottawa to race for their clubs at the Canadian Sprint CanoeKayak Championships taking place from August 25 to 30 at Mooney’s Bay.
Summary of Results
| Athlete | Event | Result |
| Mark de Jonge (Halifax, NS) | Men’s K1 200m | 1st in finalGold medal |
| Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (Trois-Rivières, QC) | Women’s C1 200m | 4th in final |
| Ben Russell (Dartmouth, NS), Gabriel Beauchesne-Sévigny (Trois-Rivières, QC) | Men’s C2 1000m | 9th in final |
| Genevieve Orton (Lake Echo, NS),Una Lounder (Dartmouth, NS) | Women’s K2 200m | 8th in final |
| Michelle Russell (Fall River, NS) | Women’s K1 200m | 16th overall |
| Brady Reardon (Burlington, ON), Adam van Koeverden (Oakville, ON), Pierre-Luc Poulin (Lac Beauport, QC), Philippe Duchesneau (Sherbrooke, QC) | Men’s K4 1000m | 16th overall |
| Émilie Fournel (Montréal, QC) | Women’s K1 5000m | 3rd overallBronze medal |
CanoeKayak Canada is the national governing body for competitive paddling in Canada. The organization’s vision is to be a Canadian sport for families, communities and champions. From supporting clubs to developing a competitive National Team, CanoeKayak Canada works to grow a sport which is a rich part of Canada’s heritage.
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Media Contact:
Ian Miller
Communications and Marketing Officer, CanoeKayak Canada
613.314.1352
imiller@canoekayak.ca