In the women’s canoe single 200-meter Olympic sprint, world champion Nevin Harrison brought home the gold for the United States.
The women’s canoe single 200-meter event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was won by American Nevin Harrison.
U.S. Teenager Nevin Harrison Wins First Olympic Women’s Canoe 200m
Harrison, a former world champion, sprinted out to an early lead and never looked back, winning in a time of 45.932.
Canadian Laurence Vincent-Lapointe finished second in a time of 46.786, and Ukrainian Liudmyla Luzan took third in 47.034 to win the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Harrison declared, “I’m definitely still in a dream.” What just happened is beyond my comprehension, and I have no words to describe it.
I’m beyond psyched. There is nothing better than this, and it’s everything I could have hoped for.
The 19-year-old sprint canoeist from the United States qualified first at the Sea Forest Waterway.
In the preliminary round, she ran a personal best of 44.9.38 seconds, which was an Olympic best.
Tokyo Olympics: American Teen Nevin Harrison Wins First Women’s Canoe 200 Gold
The women’s canoe 200-meter sprint made its Olympic debut on Thursday at the Sea Forest Waterway.
And American teen Nevin Harrison won it by passing Canada’s Laurence Vincent Lapointe in the second half of the race.
Harrison, now 19, won the world championship in 2019 when she was just 17 years old and the Canadian was serving a provisional doping suspension that was later overturned.
Harrison sobbed and held her hand to her mouth as she paddled in after the finish. At the medal ceremony, she fought back tears once more before holding the gold to her cheek.
A native of Seattle, Harrison has spent the past year training in the Atlanta area. He has shed tears before races as a means of relieving stress.
She was strong and focused enough to overcome Vincent Lapointe’s early lead and win by a wide margin.
Since 1964, no American woman has won an Olympic medal. She made history by becoming the first to win gold in the canoe sprint.
Conclusion
The C1 200m world record holder from Canada, Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, was expected to challenge.
Harrison in the race under Tokyo Gate Bridge along a canal set between two artificial islands.
Harrison won in 45.932 seconds, 0.854 ahead of her 29-year-old competitor, but the race was more of a procession than a duel. Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan finished in third place. Thanks for reading our article U.S. Teenager Nevin Harrison Wins First Olympic Women’s Canoe 200m.
