Canoe Singles (C1), 200 metres, Women

Nevin Harrison (USA) was the defending gold medalist and had been World Champion in this event in 2019 and 2022. She had won the 2019 World Championships when she was only 17-years-old, and her gold medal at Tokyo was the first ever by a USA woman in sprint canoeing. The 2023 World Champion was Cuban Yarisleidis Cirilo, looking to become the first Cuban woman to win an Olympic medal in flatwater canoeing. The silver medalist at the 2021 and 2023 Worlds was Spain’s Antía Jácome, who was expected to be among the medalists in Paris.

Cirilo and Harrison won their heats, as did Canadians Katie Vincent and Sophia Jensen, along with Poland’s Dorota Borowska. The semi-finals were led by Cirilo and Vincent, with Harrison finishing second behind Vincent.

The final was desperately close between Vincent and Harrison, with the Canadian pulling out the gold medal by only 1/100th of a second – 44.12 to 44.13. Vincent’s time was a new world best for the event, surpassing the 44.504 set by her countrywoman Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (no relation), in winning a 2018 World Cup event in Szeged, Hungary. Cirilo was also under the previous world best but had to settle for bronze, finishing 0.23 seconds behind Harrison, with Jácome in fourth, although never really a medal contender in the last half of the race.