Team Canada won three gold medals in canoeing at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. The gold medalists came from Michelle Russell of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (women’s K1 500 metres), Ian Gaudet of Halifax, Nova Scotia and Simon McTavish of Oakville, Ontario (men’s K2 500 metres), and Alix Plomteux of Quebec City, Quebec and Craig Spence of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (men’s canoeing 500 metres).
In the women’s K1 500 metres, Russell had a winning time of 1:51.25. Brenda Eliana Rojas of Argentina won the silver medal with a time of 1:52.01. Beatriz De Lourdes Briones Fragoza of Mexico won the bronze medal with a time of 1:53.07. Russell reached the podium by 3.79 seconds over Yurieni Guerra Herrera of Cuba, who had a fourth place time of 1:55.04.
In the men’s K2 500 metres, Gaudet and McTavish had a winning time of 1:30.45. Gonzalo Raul Lo Moro Benassi and Agustin Vernice of Argentina won the silver medal with a time of 1:31.25. Jonas Wolfgang Ecker and Aaron Small of the United States won the bronze medal with a time of 1:31.48. Gaudet and McIntosh reached the podium by 2.40 seconds over Erick Julian Cabrera Verdier and Matias Valentin Otero Ezcurra of Uruguay, who had a fourth place time of 1:32.85.
In the men’s canoeing 500 metres, Plomteux and Spence had a winning time of 1:42.12. Evandlison Elisio Avelar Neto and Filipe Vinicius Santana Vieira of Brazil won the silver medal with a time of 1:43.52. Jose Ramon Pelier Cordova and Javier Requeiro Gil of Cuba won the bronze medal with a time of 1:43.66. Plomteux and Spence reached the podium by 2.81 seconds over Alejandro Rodriguez Ramirez and Daniel Alfonso Pacheco Cipaguata of Colombia, who had a fourth place time of 1:44.93.
Team Canada won 10 more medals on Friday (five silver medals and five bronze medals). The silver medals came in canoeing (women’s K4 500 metres), sailing (Mariah Millen of Toronto, Ontario and Alexandra ten Hove of Kingston, Ontario in women’s 49er FX), squash (George Crowne of Oakville, Ontario and Nicole Bunyan of Victoria, British Columbia in mixed doubles), fencing (men’s team foil and women’s team sabre). The bronze medals came in canoeing (Sophia Jensen of Edmonton in women’s C1 200 metres), sailing (Will Jones of Hamilton, Ontario and Justin Barnes of Peterborough, Ontario in men’s 49er), artistic swimming (open team), field hockey (men’s), and karate (Claudia Laos-Loo in women’s individual kata).
Team Canada has now won 139 medals overall (40 gold medals, 44 silver medals, and 55 bronze medals). They are third in the overall medal standings. The United States leads with 234 medals, and Brazil is second with 165 medals.
