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Hungarian Balint Kopasz, the defending Olympic Champion from Tokyo in men’s K1 1000 metres event, easily came through to the next stage of the competition, like his teammate and fellow Tokyo medallist Adam Varga.

 

In men’s C1 1000 metres event, Czech Martin Fuksa and Brazilian Isaquias Guimaraes Queiroz showed it will be a hard battle for the glory. “It’s never easy beating the Olympic champion in a heat, I don’t understand how that happened. When I go into a heat, I want to win. I think it’s not important physically, but psychologically. I don’t care about Tokyo and Rio, it’s a European city, so it’s better for me. But so many of my family and friends are here, so I want to be good. So many years I’ve been competing, and I’ve collected a lot of medals, but I have one medal missing. I will do my best and we will see what happens on Friday,” said Fuksa.  

 

In women’s kayak 500 metres event New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington will be the first favourite for the gold, but there are several other athletes who will try to surprise her. Among them is Hungarian Tamara Csipes, “There are five of us who want this gold medal. Honestly, I think the women doing the K1 500m is the hardest race in the Olympics. The New Zealanders are amazing. If I win, I am prouder of myself because of them, if they win, they are prouder of themselves. It’s good. I’m nervous.”