Canoe Singles (C1), 1,000 metres, Men

Sebastian Brendel (GER) was the gold medalist in Canadian singles in 2012 and 2016, but had struggled at Tokyo 2020, finishing 10th. He had won bronze medals at the World Championships in singles in both 2022 and 2023 and was still formidable. However, the favorite was Czechia’s Martin Fuksa, the 2023 World Champion, a 12-time European Champion, and a World gold medalist in singles in 2015 and 2017. Fuksa was appearing at his third Olympics and had finished fifth in this event in 2016 and 2020. He also held the record for the best time on record, with 3:42.385, set in winning a World Cup in Duisburg, Germany, in 2018, but had yet to win an Olympic medal.

His biggest challenger was expected to be Brazil’s Isaquias Queiroz, the defending gold medalist, looking to become only the third paddler to win two consecutive gold medals in C1-1000, after Brendel and Josef Holeček (TCH), in 1948-52. Wiktor Głazunow was world ranked #1 coming into Paris 2024. He had a history of top finishes, although usually failing to make the top step of the podium.

In the end, it was all Fuksa, who won his heat and semi-final comfortably, and then posted an easy victory over Queiroz in the final, to end his Olympic medal shut-out. Queiroz was 1.17 seconds back at the finish and barely held on for silver over Moldovan Serghei Tarnovschi, who repeated his bronze medal from Tokyo 2020. Głazunow had the fastest time in the heats, taking heat one in 3:48.40, but was never a factor in the final, finishing sixth. Another non-factor was Brendel, who finished last in the final, even though, like Fuksa, he had easily won his heat and semi-final.