Image: GEPA pictures / Jasmin Walter
The shallow-water canoeist Viktoria Schwarz made it to the semifinals on Wednesday at the Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo in a kayak single over 500 m with third place in her preliminary run. This will be held on Thursday (from 2.58 a.m. CEST). For Ana Roxana Lehaci, however, was fifth in her quarter-finals, only the top 3 progressed. She had missed the direct ascent as the sixth ahead, in the quarterfinals she was 1.556 seconds short of 3rd place.
“That was a nice lactate game”, Schwarz told the APA – Austria Press Agency, still exhausted. “I stood up and just wanted to slow down at full throttle.” The Upper Austrian had the advantage of having caught the only six-person heat. In the other five heats there were seven athletes each. In addition, she had Lisa Carrington next to her on the train, the New Zealander had won two gold medals the day before.
“I made sure that Lisa Carrington doesn't drive too far away, that I stay with her, that I pick up the punch a bit and stay high with the number of hits,” explained Schwarz. A good start helped her with this endeavor. “I'm actually always very lively at the start. It's always pretty easy for me.” It soon became apparent that the three rivals behind her would no longer endanger her. “It was then clear to me that I really only had to cross the finish line.”
It was the 36-year-old's first 500cc race this year, having won over 200 m solo at the World Cup in Barnaul in May. “But the 200 is really bubbly, not like the 500.” In the one, she basically feels a bit uncomfortable, because she must make a boot change after the games. “So restless, so shaky, I don't get along so well,” said Schwarz. In addition, it was unusual not to have Lehaci in front of her, as in the two.
In the semifinals on Thursday only the motto “full throttle, not tactical” applies. She was happy about the direct ascent, even if there was no focus on the one. “But it's an Olympic competition. And it's good that I can save myself the quarter-finals and concentrate on the semifinals. Driving straight in the heat is very exhausting.” She has no expectations because she has not trained the one. “But we are fit. Just go full throttle and see what comes out.”
For Lehaci, the games in Tokyo were over after being eliminated in the quarter-finals, but the disappointment was limited. “After the double yesterday, the air was pretty out of the way today,” she openly admitted. In addition, the conditions were again very difficult due to the strong wind.
