Czechia claims its second gold at 2024 Paris Olympics with record-breaking win

Speed canoeist Martin Fuksa secured Czechia’s third medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and its second gold after winning the C1 (meaning individual) one-kilometer canoe race. This was Fuksa’s first Olympic medal in his third appearance, having placed fifth in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and in Tokyo three years ago. 

Like his dominant performance in the morning’s semi-final, Fuksa took the lead soon after the start and gradually extended his lead to 10 meters. With a time of just over 3 minutes and 43 seconds, he not only secured the gold but also improved the Olympic record for this track for the second time today. In the double kayak event, Jakub Špicar and Daniel Havel also made their mark with a seventh-place finish on the 500-meter course.

Speaking after his victory, the champion said: “The race was 1,000 meters of fear that someone would overtake me. I was able to save energy because I rode what I had trained for. I saved a lot of energy for the finish when someone might attack. But no one approached me.”

Fuksa is a decorated canoeist: he has won three gold medals in the Speed Canoe World Championships in the 2015, 2017, and 2023 tournaments. Two of those golds came in C1 1,500 meters. He has also claimed 11 gold medals in canoeing European championships in the last decade and won gold in the 2023 European Games in Poland.

Fuksa’s victory is a welcome addition to Czechia's relatively modest medals tally so far. Tennis players Kateřina Siniaková and Tomáš Macháč won Czechia’s first gold medals of the Olympics after triumphing in the mixed double’s final on Aug 2. That same day, Czechia’s fencing quartet of Jiří Beran, Jakub Jurka, Martin Rubeš, and Michal Čupr claimed bronze in the men's team épée. Impressively, they beat hosts France in the third-place play-off.

Although the Olympics ends in just two days, Czechia still has chances for extra medals, especially in canoeing and kayaking. Kayaker Josef Dostál will on Saturday compete in the semifinals of the K1 one-kilometer men’s race, looking to add to his Olympics medal tally after winning a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and three other bronzes in previous Games.

Anežka Paloudová is another canoeist to watch. She will race in the K1 500 meters women’s race Saturday afternoon – having previously won six gold medals at the Wildwater Canoeing World Championships, she will be setting her sights on an Olympic medal.

In other disciplines, cyclists Jan Voneš and Denis Rugovac will try to score a medal at the men’s Madison track cycling final, and javelin thrower Nikola Ogrodníková will Saturday evening compete in the women’s javelin final. Ogrodníková notably won the 2018 European Championships in the javelin.