Canoeing-Photo finish leads to rare double bronze joy for Hungary and Germany

PARIS : Germany’s Paulina Paszek and Jule Marie Hake and Hungarians Noemie Pupp and Sara Fojt faced an agonising wait to see who came third in the final of the women’s kayak double 500m Olympic final on Friday, and in the end both crews were awarded the bronze medal after judges could not separate them. 

That led to a packed podium for the medal presentation and the media conference that followed as the tension of the minutes-long wait turned to joy for both teams. 

“It was emotional roller coaster, especially for the Hungarians, because first, it shows us third and the Hungarians fourth, and like one or two minutes later it was both third and it was down, up, and it really was incredible,” Hake told reporters as the four bronze medallists crowded on to the stage for a press conference. 

“I think we’re both happy, because we can imagine how the fourth place would have felt, and I think we both deserved the bronze medal, and I’m really, really happy to share the podium with the Hungarians,” she added. 

With New Zealand the clear winners in a time of 1:37.28 and the first Hungarian crew of Tamara Csipes and Alida Dora Gazso securing the silver, the wait to find out who came third went on longer than the race itself.

Pupp and Fojt, who were both part of the four-paddler crew that won bronze in Thursday’s K4 500m race, came on strong late in the race but still had to wait to find out their fate after finishing in a time of 1:39.46 – exactly the same as the Germans. 

“It was a such a special moment – I think the German girls were the first ones who came up to us and said ‘don’t worry about it, you got this, you got the bronze medal yesterday’, and they were also the first ones when they jumped on us when we came up third as well,” Hungarian paddler Fojt said. 

With the judges still deep in their deliberations, Hake appeared the calmer of the German pair. 

“No, it’s just my appearance, I think,” she said. “I was trying to support Paulina in this moment because we are a team. We are friends. I would say we are best friends.

“I know how hard this situation was for her and also for me and for the Hungarians, so I try to be relaxed. I try to be like the rock, to be calm for her.”