New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington and Brazil’s Isaquias Queiroz both came away with Canoe/Kayak Sprint medals on Olympic Day 11.
On Day 12, they will start the quest for more hardware.
Alongside them, the rest of the fastest paddlers in the world will attempt to lock their spots into Thursday’s final races.
Men’s Kayak Double 1000m
The day will begin at 8am ET with heats in the men’s K2 1000-meter division. Semifinal races will follow just after 10am.
If the results at the previous two World Championships are any indication – and they often are – this will be a four-team battle for three podium spots.
Max Rendschmidt and Marcus Gross of Germany are the defending World Champions. They will be after a strong start to their Olympic program, which will also include the four-man 1000m sprint on Friday and Saturday.
Australia’s Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame finished 2nd at the last two World Championships and will certainly be expected to make Thursday’s final A.
Serbia and Slovakia will also be in the mix.
Men’s Canoe Single 200m
It will be a different kind of pace for Isaquias Queiroz on Wednesday.
The host nation’s “Sportsperson of the Year” in 2015 captured silver in the 1000-meter race on Tuesday. He will be right back in the lagoon for the much quicker 200-meter sprint, and should be well-positioned to take home the second of a possible trio of medals once the week is up.
China’s Li Qiang will likely contend in his third Olympics.
This event is highly influenced by doping bans, as Belarus’ Artsem Kozyr and Russia’s Aleksei Korovashkov, both disqualified from the Olympics, would have been favorites to win medals.
Men’s Kayak Double 200m
The field is wide-open in the 200-meter K2.
Germany, Serbia, Hungary, France, and Great Britain all feel that they have the fastest paddlers in the division.
Wednesday’s heats and semifinal races may shed light on who will be the team to beat come Thursday’s final.
Women’s Kayak Single 500m
Lisa Carrington of New Zealand already has a gold medal from these Games. She won it on Tuesday in the K1 200-meter.
She’s back for more in the 500m, and as the defending World Champion, has a great chance to go two-for-two.
This event features the only American canoe/kayak sprint athlete in Rio. 37-year-old Maggie Hogan is not expected to make Thursday’s final, so Wednesday’s heat 3 will be a very important race for her.