Image taken from Jit

Havana, May 17 (RHC)-- Cuban canoeist Serguey Torres, Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo 2020, will compete in the Sprint Canoeing World Cup, which will begin on Friday, May 20th, in the Czech city of Račice.

The 35-year-old athlete will paddle in the C1 to 1 000 meters, a modality in which he has only competed once and finished in sixth place.

The also five-time Pan American medal winner told the JIT newspaper that he feels in "perfect sporting shape" and has prepared well for the C1-1 000m.

His debut will be on Friday in the third elimination heat. His compatriot José Ramón Pelier's will be in the first heat. Both will also compete in the C1-5 000 m.

Pelier arrives at the first major competition of the canoeing season -which ends on Sunday 22nd- with the aim of scoring points for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Guantanamero will also row in C2-500 m together with Tabiani Diéguez Álvarez.

Cubans Yarisleidi Cirilo and Katherin Nuevo will participate in the C1 at 200 m and 5000 m, and in the two-seater canoe at 500 m and 200 m.

In the kayak, Reinier Carrera, Robert Benítez and Yoel David will compete for Cuba in the men's division; and Yurieni Herrera, Camila Cuello, Yurisleidi Muñoz and Madelen Heredia in the women's division.

The Cuban team is currently training in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It will be in the Polish city of Poznan where the second stage of the world championship will be held from May 26 to 29.

This is the first competition organized by the International Canoe Federation (ICF) since the COVID pandemic . More than 500 athletes from 50 countries and five continents will participate.