Gold from Fernando Dayán Jorge at the World Canoe Racing Championship

May 21, 2021

After obtaining a silver medal with Serguey Torres in the C2 at one thousand meters, Cuban Fernando Dayán Jorge returned to his canoe to row solo five kilometers and obtain another medal at the World Canoe Championship. Exactly 21 minutes, 51 seconds and 69 hundredths passed from the starting whistle, the time the Creole needed to cover the distance and claim the title in the grueling race.

Along with his gold medal, Cuba also enjoyed the bronze achieved by Serguey in that event, after registering 21:57.98 to finish behind his teammate and the local Balazs Adolf (21:52.63). In the lake of the Hungarian city of Szeged, the Greater Antilles obtained three other medals on the final 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 the C2 at one thousand meters. There Serguey and Fernando Dayán finished behind favored Germans Sebastian Brendel —triple Olympic champion— and Tim Hecker. The Caribbean competitors, world runners-up and sixth at the Rio 2016 Olympic event, recorded a time of 3:49.18, just under a second behind the Germans (3:48.27).

Our paddlers passed fourth and fifth at the 250 and 500 meters, respectively, but then intensified the pace and crossed the 750 meters at just two hundredths of the Polish canoe, then leaders of the race. However, in the final quarter everything changed and the Germans advanced from third to first place, the Cubans maintained their position and the until-then leaders dropped to fifth place.

Meanwhile, talented José Ramón Pelier won the bronze medal in the C1 at 500 meters. In the race, the 2019 youth world champion registered a time of 1:53.85, only behind German Moritz Adam (1:53.22) and Belarusian Maksim Piatrou.

On the final date of a tournament that serves as preparation for the five Cubans classified for Tokyo 2020, the young Yarisleidis Cirilo demonstrated her excellent form and claimed her second medal of the competition. In this case she achieved bronze in the C1 at 5 thousand meters, with a time of 25:59.76 only lower than that achieved by Chilean María Mailliard (25:05.17) and Belarusian Volha Klimava (25:49.31).

In that same distance her teammate Katherin Nuevo registered 27:00.39 and placed seventh among the twelve women who started the race.

A little earlier, Cirilo and Nuevo rowed together in the B final of the C2 at 500 meters and concluded that race in first place. Their time of 2:02.26 was more than three seconds below that recorded by their closest pursuers.

In fact, that time was better than that achieved by the bronze medalists in the A final of the race, an instance where the Creole team inexplicably failed to qualify during Saturday's events. Ultimately, the Caribbean pair finished in tenth place of the race.

After these performances, Cuba concluded with one gold medal, two silver and three bronze. This performance earned them ninth place in the medal count, more than a relevant performance for a sport that this year had no international competitions. Germany (8-2-2), Hungary (5-9-4) and Ukraine (5-4-6) topped the standings.

For the Americas, 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 Cuba's C2 at one thousand meters is favored to contest 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)