In the Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium men’s canoe singles final, Adam Burgess of Great Britain won the silver medal.
With a flawless semifinal race, the 32-year-old qualified fourth fastest and went on to win his first Olympic medal with another strong effort in the final.
He told BBC Sport, “I’ve dreamed of this moment my entire life.”
“I’ve missed a lot of opportunities to improve and made blunders that either kept me off the podium or led to more mistakes in races. It was quite magical to witness me in first with only a few boats remaining.”
Burgess’s time of 96.84 seconds was just beat by Nicolas Gestin of France, who won gold by crossing the finish line 5.48 seconds faster.
Matej Benus of Slovakia won the medal, but Benjamin Savsek, the current world champion, finished 11th after taking a disastrous 50-second penalty.
Burgess came just short of a worldwide podium when he finished fifth at the previous year’s World Championships, and he missed out on the podium by a painful 0.16 seconds at the postponed Tokyo Games.
Ever since, he has promoted the use of yoga and breathwork in his instruction. After his near-miss three years prior, he decided to finish the final without any regrets, hence the name “Project Send It” for his build-up to the games.
After finishing his race, Burgess was clearly taken aback, but he knew he would definitely win a medal because Germany’s Sideris Tasiadis was unable to beat his time.
After Kimberley Woods’ bronze in the kayak single (K1) on Sunday, this was Great Britain’s fifth medal of the day.
