Canadian sprint canoeists Vincent, MacKenzie win bronze medal

Canada’s Katie Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie have claimed Olympic bronze in the women’s doubles 500-metre sprint canoe final.

Vincent, of Mississauga, Ont., and MacKenzie, of Windsor Junction, N.S., finished in one minute 54.36 seconds, behind Shixiao Xu and Mengya Sun of China, who took gold.

The Canadian duo got off to a strong start but couldn’t catch China, and were upset by Ukraine, who made a late push to claim silver in a photo finish.

This is Vincent’s second Olympic medal after she took home bronze from the Tokyo Games competing in the same race with Laurence Vincent-Lapointe.

Friday has been a busy day for Canadian paddlers, with canoeist Connor Fitzpatrick coming eighth in the men’s 1,000-metre semifinal, while kayakers Courtney Stott and Natalie Davison finished eighth in their women’s doubles 500-metre semi and Pierre-Luc Poulin and Simon McTavish came in sixth in the men’s doubles 500-metre sprint kayak semifinal.

Those three boats are set to compete in placing races Friday afternoon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2024.