Canadian canoeist Katie Vincent wanted to push herself a little bit harder.
The 28-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., captured bronze at the Paris Olympics on Friday and still had one race to go.
“I finished [Friday] with a bronze. I got back to my hotel room and I’m thinking `OK, I’ve got two bronze. Maybe it’s time to mix it up, try something new.’ So that kind of motivated me to come out today find another gear, dig a little deeper,” Vincent said Saturday. “I just wanted to have a really good race.”
The extra effort paid off.
Vincent raced to gold in the women’s single 200-metre canoe sprint final on Saturday.
The medal marked Canada’s eighth gold and 25th overall at the Paris Games. Both totals set a new mark for the most the country has won at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics.
WATCH l Vincent wins record-setting gold medal:
Katie Vincent of Mississauga, Ont., claims the gold medal in the women’s canoe sprint C1 200-metre final at Paris 2024 with an Olympic record time of 44.12. Canada establishes a new record for gold (eight) and total medals (25) at a non-boycotted Summer Games. Sophia Jensen of Chelsea, Que., finished sixth in the final.
Vincent is the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in canoe-kayak sprint.
It was Vincent’s second medal in Paris, coming after she and Sloan MacKenzie of Windsor Junction, N.S., won bronze in the women’s double 500m on Friday.
She also took bronze in the women’s doubles 500m at the Tokyo Games.
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Vincent finished her semifinal in first on Saturday morning, but didn’t leap out to the head of the pack in the medal race.
Instead, she gathered speed as she powered down the course at Stade Nautique on the outskirts of Paris, and ultimately paddled to a photo finish with Nevin Harrison of the United States.
Several minutes passed as the judges evaluated who crossed the line first.
“I knew that I was first or second, I think, when I crossed the line,” Vincent said of those moments. “And then I felt `OK, upgrade from bronze, at least.’ So I was pretty excited,” she said. “And then I think I deep down, I think I won. But you can’t get ahead of yourself until you know, right?”
WATCH l Vincent reflects on winning Olympic gold:
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