RIO DE JANEIRO — Expecting to talk about the medals they’d just won in kayak on Saturday, male athletes were instead peppered with questions about the canoe/kayak schedule for the Tokyo Games in 2020 — where the number of men’s events will be cut to establish gender equity.
Opinions varied.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” said Slovakia’s Erik Vlcek, who won silver in the men’s K4 1,000-metre race. “I don’t think the women’s canoeing, C1 or C2, belong in the Olympic Games because it doesn’t look good.”
“I think it’s okay that the girls get the equal chances, but for us boys it’s kind of bad because some of our races are going to be gone,” said German gold medallist Max Hoff. “At the moment, they put the K4 out and I don’t think it’s good for our sport to have the K2 200. I think it’s a much more competitive sport than what we see in the girls.”
But just to be clear: “I’m not anti-girl, is what I want to say.”
The bronze-medal winning Czech foursome was completely divided on the subject.
“We have a different opinion,” said Josef Dostal. “Jan (Sterba), he is saying that they are beautiful so he’s for it. Lukas (Trefil) has another opinion because he says it’s nonsense.”
What about Daniel Havel?
“Daniel has a wife so he can’t say a word.”
NOT-SO-GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Not everyone arrived in Rio expecting to win a medal. Great Britain kayaker Liam Heath was shocked to find himself atop the podium following the men’s 200-metre race on Saturday. Heath, on what his reply would have been if someone had told him a week ago he’d leave Rio with Olympic gold: “Are you having a laugh, mate?”
His British teammate, bronze-medal winning badminton player Chris Langridge, was even more gobsmacked by his performance.
“I know it sounds silly, but it’s an insane feeling I can’t put it into words,” he said. “If you had said before we came here that we would be in the semis, I would have bitten your hand off.”
CAPTAIN OBVIOUS: Asked why she was unable to finish off Britain’s Jade Jones in their gold-medal taekwondo bout, which she led 7-6, Spain’s Eva Calvo Gomez was direct: “She kicked me in the head and it was very difficult to score again.”
TWEET OF THE DAY: Not everyone leaves Rio with a medal, nor can everyone retire a medallist. This, from legendary Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden.
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