American teenager Nevin Harrison wins first women’s Olympic canoe 200m | Tokyo Olympics 2020

Now, aspiring American canoeists can regard the 19-year-old as an icon after winning the women’s 200m canoe sprint on Thursday in the Olympic flatwater race debut.

The Olympic history of canoeing dates back to 1936, but no American had been on the podium since Rebecca Giddens won a silver medal in the women’s K1 slalom in 2004. It was the first canoe sprint medal. or kayak of the country since 1992.

Harrison was the only American canoe or kayak sprinter to qualify for Tokyo, so the talent pool is still shallow, but she is unmistakably a world star in the sport.

“It was a tough journey because I didn’t have anyone to really go through these steps. But I hope I can be that person for the next generation in America, ”Harrison said. She entered the final as the current world champion and big favorite, but still looked astonished after her victory.

“It’s such a crazy big dream and it never seems like it’s actually achievable, so to cross that finish line and look around and see that I was the first one was really surreal. Like everything I always dreamed of as a kid, ”she said.

The race under the Tokyo Gate Bridge along a canal located between two artificial islands was to be a confrontation between Harrison and a Canadian, Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, holder of the C1 200m world record. They finished first and second, but it was closer to a procession than a duel, with Harrison winning in 45.932 seconds, 0.854 ahead of her 29-year-old rival. Liudmyla Luzan of Ukraine was third.

Vincent-Lapointe was delighted with her medal, especially since for a while the former world champion seemed unlikely to compete in Tokyo. “It’s so relieving and exciting. It’s just crazy after everything I’ve been through, ”she said.

In 2019, she found herself embroiled in a doping nightmare that began with a kiss. She tested positive for a trace of Ligandrol, a banned bodybuilding drug.

The native of Quebec protested her innocence but was suspended for six months before being exonerated and reinstated by a court after providing a hair sample from her now ex-boyfriend. She persuaded authorities that she had been the victim of third-party contamination caused by the transfer of bodily fluids.

But her suspension means she missed the 2019 world championships, which were won by the then 17-year-old American paddle prodigy. Harrison had only started canoeing five years before, focusing on sports after a diagnosis of hip dysplasia put an end to his athletic ambitions.

Naturally, she doesn’t regret focusing on the water-based sprint. “It’s so much better for me, the people are unique, the community is amazing,” she said. “I like to be on the water, I like to be outside. Perfect then.”