Canada’s Katie Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie took a step in the right direction Tuesday in their hunt for a medal at the 2024 Olympic Games.
The pair finished first in the second heat of the women’s canoe double 500-metre race with a time of one minute, 54.16 seconds, securing a spot in the event’s semifinals and setting a new Olympic record.
The Canadian duo qualified for the Olympics by winning bronze at the 2023 world championships. They went on to win gold at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games and silver at the first World Cup of 2024.
Vincent set the world-record time in 2018 with then-teammate Laurence Vincent Lapointe, securing a time of 1:51.42.
Vincent Lapointe has since retired, after winning a bronze medal with Vincent at the Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s pretty cool right now. I just saw my name pop up twice, that’s pretty special — with two different people and two different eras of our sport,” Vincent told CBC Olympics.
“It’s a huge honour and I think it’s a testament to the work Sloan and I have done to get to this level and to keep pushing ourselves. Three years ago, we were not in some of these finals and now we’re pushing the Olympic best times. I’m just really proud of how far we’ve come.”
The fastest two teams in each heat Tuesday secured a spot in the semifinals, while the remaining competitors will head to a quarterfinal race to advance.
China and Ukraine advanced out of the first heat, with Chinese canoers posting a time of 1:54.45.
Spain finished second in the heat with the Canadians to earn a place in the semifinals.
Vincent and MacKenzie will race in the semifinals on Friday at 4:30 a.m. ET / 1:30 a.m. PT.
