Cuban canoeists Yarisleidis Cirilo and Yinnols Franchesca López will seek medals today in the A final of the women’s single-seater (C-1) 200 meters, on the last day of the III Montreal Canoeing World Cup, a competition that awards points for the world ranking.
According to the International Federation’s website, Cirilo, bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, secured his place in the medal round by dominating the semifinal with a time of 47.96 seconds.
Meanwhile, her teammate in the two-seater (C-2) 500 meters finalist at the Parisian multi-sport event, Franchesca López, followed in her footsteps with third place and 49.33 seconds.
Following the top Cuban canoeist, the Italian Olympia Della Giustina (48.98) and the Cuban Yisnolis López crossed the finish line, also securing their tickets to the discussion of the honors, while the big negative surprise was registered by the Canadian Katie Vincent, Olympic champion of the French capital.
Undoubtedly, this is an already outstanding performance by Cirilo and Franchesca López in preparation for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026, from July 24 to August 8, and the qualifying Pan American Championship that Montreal will also host after the Cup.
Another commendable performance by Cirilo and Franchesca López was recorded in the A final of the two-seater (C-2) 200 meters, modality in which they finished in fourth place with a time of 44:34 seconds, very close to the bronze medalists, the Chinese Teng/X. Yjang (44:14).
Also standing out among the 12 Cuban canoeists -canoe and kayak- present in Montreal, despite finishing without medals, was canoeist José Ramón Pelier, who won the B final with 1:53.18 minutes, valid for tenth place overall.
Pelier will also be in action this Sunday, among other Cubans, in the five thousand meters, a non-Olympic distance in which he is expected to achieve a good result.
Remember that once the Cup is over, the Cuban canoeists will compete in the Pan American Qualifying Championship, from the 13th to the 15th, and will return home on the 16th, to continue their preparation in Cuba for the main event of the year, the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, scheduled from July 24th to August 8th.
The complete list is headed by Cirilo and Franchesca López, under the tutelage of coach Nelson Perales, while the canoe men, directed by Serguei Torres, Olympic champion with Fernando Dayán Jorge in the C-2 at one thousand meters in Tokyo 2020, are José Ramón Pelier and Javier Requiero Gil, who will also be in the continental and Dominican multidisciplinary competition.
The kayakers (myf) present in Montreal and the Quisqueyan city are Daylen Rodriguez Pérez, Madelen Heredia Domínguez, Lismary Bombino Resua, Gabriela González Cruz, Julio C. Suárez Hidalgo, Anthony Lamadrid Cabrera, Geduar González Rodríguez and Carlos D Abreu Herrera.
When they return from the Canadian city, everyone will go back to the La Coronela dam, headquarters of canoeing and rowing, home of the José Smith Comas aquatic track, located in Caimito, in the western province of Artemisa, where they will put the final touches on the Games of the Dominican city.
Cirilo and Franchesca López were in Colombia, where they completed a satisfactory second training camp at altitude, with emphasis on C-1 and C-2, with the presence also of Dr. Dashel Rodríguez and physiotherapist Lázaro Pérez, and without forgetting the Pan American Games of Lima 2027 and the Olympic Games of Los Angeles 2028, closing the current Olympic cycle.
Both, the only ones who have participated abroad this year, arrived in Colombia for the second time this year, after achieving one gold medal, two silver medals and one bronze medal in the World Cups of Szeged, Hungary, and Brandenburg, Germany.
In the Hungarian city they won the gold medal in the C-2 200m and the silver in the C-1 200m, while in the German city, they won a silver in the C-2 200m and a bronze in the C-1 200m, in all cases with the main protagonist in Cirilo, owner of the loot as a singles player, undoubtedly among the best canoeists on the planet.
They finished without medals in the C-2 500m, as they finished ninth in the A final in Szeged and were unable to advance from the semi-final in Brandenburg.
After those world championships, the outstanding canoeists joined the training sessions at the La Coronela dam, where they shared the preparation days with the pre-selection of canoeists and kayakers who are preparing for the Dominican competition.
Canoeing, mainly with the canoe, had a good 2025, a year that ended with 12 places -full team- for Santo Domingo 2026, a year in which the main role fell to Cirilo and López.
Already in 2025, Cirilo was in the A finals of the World Cups in Szeged (Hungary) and Poznan (Poland), a sign of what would happen shortly afterwards, as he won the gold and silver medals in the C-1 200 meters at the Under-23 and Senior World Championships, held in Portugal and Italy, respectively.
Among the men, José Ramón Pelier stood out, winning gold and silver medals in the C-1, but at five thousand meters, a non-Olympic distance, in the world championships of Szeged and Poznan, respectively.
And it was Franchesca López’s turn, who came in eighth place -out of 10 nominees- for the Sports Achievement Award given by Panam Sports Junior Awards for her results in the II Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguay, where she won four medals, three gold in the C-1 200 meters, the C-2 500 meters and the C-2 mixed 500 meters, and one bronze in the C-1 500 meters.
With that performance, the young athlete from the central province of Villa Clara stood out among the multi-medalists of the Cuban delegation that attended the Paraguayan multi-sport event, where the Cuban canoeists achieved nine medals, three gold, three silver and three bronze.
In canoeing, a discipline in which Cuba has demonstrated very good results in regional and world competitions with Olympic and world champions, only the countries with the best results in the region receive the maximum quotas -12-.
Also appearing in that case are Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, the latter due to its status as host country, according to the allocation system published by Centro Caribe Sport in the classification manual for the Games.
Fuente: Radio progreso
