Thursday, November 2st.- The Brazilian Isquias Queiroz is undoubtedly one of the major stars in the canoe sprint competition, which takes place at the San Pedro de La Paz lagoon. A triple Olympic medalist at Rio de Janeiro 2016 (two silvers and one bronze), gold at Tokyo 2020, and a multi-time world champion; at the Pan American Games, he has two golds and one silver at Toronto 2015 and a gold medal at Lima 2019.

In other words, he arrived in Chile to defend his title and started on the right foot by qualifying first for the final of the male's C1 1,000m, in a tight race against the Cuban Jose Ramon Pelier.

After the race, Queiroz acknowledged that most of his Brazilian teammates are focused on the 2024 Paris Olympics, but he wanted to be in Chile "because I believe these will be the last Pan American Games of my career, and I wanted to enjoy this moment. I am thrilled to have won this qualifier, and I hope I can take home the gold medal, although it will be tough."

The Brazilian is 29 years old and is already thinking about retirement, explaining the reason: "My life has always been about canoeing, 100% dedicated to the sport. I have 18 medals in world championships, and four in the Olympics, and I have never been able to enjoy much time with my family, my wife, my son (...) I already have everything I wanted, and this 1,000-meter discipline is very exhausting. There comes a time when you have to know when to say stop, and I believe Paris 2024 is a good time. Perhaps I can continue as a coach."

Finally, he praised the conditions of the Pan American facilities: "Everything is very good, a good track, a high level. Now we just have to enjoy the race, which I can't really do much because it is very draining."

Written by Gonzalo Villegas; translated by Pía Barriga / Photosport
Photo by Carlos Acuña / Santiago2023 / Photosport