At 37, Fernando Pimenta delivered a distance double at the 2026 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznań. He won the K1 1000 metres and the K1 5000 metres on back-to-back days, claiming his fourth Olympic-distance world title and a third in the long-distance event.
A rematch won by the narrowest edge
The K1 1000m final was a duel Pimenta had already set up. In his semifinal he beat the defending champion, Hungary’s Bálint Kopasz, and the two lined up again for the medals. Pimenta stopped the clock at 3:24.39, taking gold by just 0.22 seconds over Kopasz, with Australia’s Thomas Green third.
A controlled Sunday to close the programme
The K1 5000 metres, run as the championships’ final race, went to Pimenta in 24:15.72. He held off South Africa’s Hamish Lovemore by 1.45 seconds, while Denmark’s Mads Pedersen took bronze. “I raced very well, without taking risks, and always had the race under control,” he told reporters afterwards.
Nine medals, one name
With this fourth K1 1000m world gold, Pimenta became the oldest athlete ever to win the event. He has now collected nine world championship medals in the distance — four golds, two silvers and three bronzes — the most by any paddler in its history. Across sprint and marathon canoeing his career totals stand at 14 world titles and 187 international medals.
The K1 5000m crown ended a wait that had stretched back to 2018, and made him the oldest world champion ever over the long distance. “I’m so happy. This is my 14th world title and yesterday I won my 13th,” Pimenta said after stepping off the water.
Portugal finished seventh among 77 nations with four medals in all. But the weekend in Poznań belonged to the paddler from Ponte de Lima, still fronting his sport at an age when most have long stepped away.
