Another medal for Slovenian pair at canoe sprint worlds
Szeged, 24 August - The Slovenian pair of Špela Ponomarenko Janić and Anja Osterman won the bronze medal in the women's 500m event at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Hungary's Szeged on Saturday, which comes after Friday's silver in the 200m event.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Slovenian canoe sprinter Špela Ponomarenko Janić (front).
Photo: Stanko Gruden/STA
The medal for Ponomarenko Janić and Osterman means that the pair have earned a berth for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by virtue of finishing in the top six.
The Slovenians made it to the finals after posting the fastest time in the semi-finals, but had to concede to the Belarusian and Polish pairs in the final, who finished first and second, respectively.
Ponomarenko Janić and Osterman finished 1.66 second behind the winning boat and 0.87 seconds behind the second-placed Poland.
This is their third medal together at world championships, coming after yesterday's silver in the 200m event and the bronze in the 500m event in Račice, the Czech Republic, in 2017.
For Ponomarenko Janić, the fourth placed canoeist in the women's individual 200m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, this is the sixth medal at world championships.