Canoeist Antoine Launay was 13th in the European slalom in Italy
Canoeist Antoine Launay, who will represent Portugal at the Olympic Games, missed the ‘top 10’ in European slalom, when he finished the K1 race in 13th place, in Ivrea, Italy.
In the transalpine white waters, Launay was barely 82 hundredths of a second away from competing for the desired final of 10 canoeists, in which the medals were decided.
Antoine Launay completed a course without penalties, ending the semifinal, with 40 kayakers, with a time of 85.38 seconds, in a phase in which the best record belonged to the Austrian Felix Oschmautz, with 80.88.
The European title went to Vit Prindis, with a time of 81.90 seconds, ahead of the Italian Giovanni de Gennaro (82.65) and the Slovenian Peter Kauzer (82.92).
In the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games, Portuguese canoeing will have at least six more elements, all at speed, namely, Fernando Pimenta in K1 1,000, the K4 500 composed by Emanuel Silva, João Ribeiro, Messias Baptista and David Varela, and also Teresa Portela, on K1 200.
Next week, in Szeged, Hungary, more Portuguese crews will try to passport to Japan, also at speed.
