After obtaining with Serguey Torres a silver medal in the C2 at a thousand meters, Cuban Fernando Dayán Jorge returned to his canoe to row five kilometers alone and seek another medal in the Canoeing World Cup. Exactly 21 minutes, 51 seconds and 69 hundredths passed from the starting whistle, the time it took for the Creole to travel the distance and claim the title in the grueling regatta.
Along with his gold medal, Cuba also enjoyed the bronze achieved by Serguey in that test, after registering 21: 57.98 entering behind his teammate and local Balazs Adolf (21: 52.63). In the lake of the Hungarian city of Szeged, the Greater Antilles, he won another three medals on the last day of the event.
Although the gold in the C1 at 5 thousand meters was spectacular, the most anticipated final of the day for Cuba was that of the C2 at a thousand meters. There Serguey and Fernando Dayán finished behind the German favorites Sebastian Brendel - triple Olympic champion - and Tim Hecker. The Caribbean, subtitles of the world and sixth in the Rio 2016 Olympic event, set a time of 3: 49.18, just less than a second behind the Teutons (3: 48.27).
Ours passed fourth and fifth through the 250 and 500 meters, respectively, but then stepped up the pace and crossed the 750 meters just two hundredths of the Polish canoe, then leaders of the test. However, in the last quarter everything changed and the Germans advanced from third to first place, the Cubans maintained their position and the leaders until then fell to fifth place.
In short, Brazilians Jacky Nascimento and Isaquias Queiroz finished third with a time of 3: 50.75.
Meanwhile, the talented José Ramón Pelier won the bronze medal in the C1 at 500 meters. In the event, the 2019 youth world champion registered a time of 1: 53.85, only behind the German Moritz Adam (1: 53.22) and the Belarusian Maksim Piatrou.
On the last date of a tournament that serves as preparation for the five classified by Cuba towards Tokyo 2020, the young Yarisleidis Cirilo demonstrated her excellent form and hung her second medal of the fair. In this case, she got bronze in the C1 at 5,000 meters, with a time of 25: 59.76 only lower than those achieved by the Chilean María Mailliard (25: 05.17) and the Belarusian Volha Klimava (25: 49.31).
In that same distance, her partner Katherin Nuevo scored 27: 00.39 and entered the seventh place among the twelve women who started the test.
A while before, Cirilo and Nuevo rowed together in the final B of the C2 at 500 meters and concluded that regatta in first place. His time of 2: 02.26 was more than three seconds below that recorded by his closest pursuers.
Even that time was better than that achieved by the bronze medalists in the final A of the event, an instance where the Creoles inexplicably failed to qualify during the day on Saturday. In short, the Antillean duo finished in tenth place in the test.
After these performances, Cuba concluded with a gold medal, two silver and three bronze. That performance earned him to occupy the ninth place in the medal table, a performance more than relevant for a sport that this year did not have international competitions. Germany (8-2-2), Hungary (5-9-4) and Ukraine (5-4-6) took the top spots.
For America, only Brazil - sixth with two medals of each color - and Chile - eighth with two titles and a bronze - surpassed the Cubans. The next World Cup will be held in the Russian town of Barnaul, prior to a summer event where the C2 at a thousand meters comes out as a favorite for Cuba to discuss a place on the podium.
Summary of Cuban finalists
- 1st place: Fernando Dayán Jorge (C1-5000m / 21: 51.69)
- 2nd place: Yarisleidis Cirilo (C1-200m / 47.88s)
Fernando Dayán / Serguey Torres (C2-1000m / 3: 49.18)
- 3rd place: Yarisleidis Cirilo (C1-5000m / 29: 59.76)
José Ramón Pelier (C1-500m / 1: 53.85)
Serguey Torres (C1-5000m / 21: 57.98)
- 4th place: José Ramón Pelier (C1-1000m / 4: 01.79)
- 7th place: Katerin Nuevo (C1-5000m / 27: 00.39)
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