Cuba Wins Gold Medal in Men's Double Canoe Sprint

On Monday, the Cuban canoeists Serguey Torres and Fernando Jorge won the gold medal in the men's canoe double 1000 meters competition at the Tokyo Olympics with a record of 3 minutes, 24 seconds and 995 milliseconds.

China’s athletes Liu Hao and Pengfei Zheng finished in second place with a +0.203 disadvantage, and the Germans Sebastian Brendel and Tim Hecker got bronze with 3:25.615. Torres and Jorge crossed the finish line with a great ending, as the Chinese team had been in front until the last 250 meters of the race.

"When you work hard, you can expect a good result. All the rivals that come here have experience and a very high level. It was a strong race that we all enjoyed," said Torres, who begin to row with Jorge in 2015.

The canoeists' victory awards the third gold medal for Cuba in Tokyo Olympics since Mijain Lopez and Luis Orta obtained gold medals in the Greco-Roman fight. So far, this Caribbean nation has also three silver and three bronze medals.

Before competing in Tokyo, Torres had taken part in the 2008 Beijing games in the men’s canoe double 500 meters and 1000 meters competitions, in which he occupied the 11th and 9th places, respectively.

In London 2012, this canoeist finished in sixth place in the men’s double 1000 meters competition. Besides, he finished in fourth place on the same modality with Jorge in the 2019 First Canoeing Sprint World Cup in Poznan, Poland.

"We have been growing together over the years. A good result was to be expected," said Torres, adding that they won the gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games and the silver medal at the World Canoeing Cup in May.