Portuguese athletes win gold and bronze for Portugal in Argentina

Gabriel Fernandes was crowned junior C1 world champion in the 15.4km men's race (55:57.74). It was a race that came down to the wire, with Fernandes just edging out Danylo Martynenko of the Czech Republic by 2.97 seconds. Matthew Brown of Canada took third place, over 55 seconds behind the winner.

Just prior to that, Maria Sousa had secured Portugal's first podium finish with a bronze in the women's race in the same age group over 11.8km. She completed the race in 1:04:09.40. Daria Ushakova took gold (1:01:40.91) and Victoria Tran silver (1:02:07.86).

Beyond the junior medals, the Portuguese squad (15 athletes in total across junior, U23 and senior) have earned seven places in the K1 short course finals. The senior athletes were represented by Fernando Pimenta and Jose Ramalho, who both qualified on the back of 3rd and 5th in their respective heats.

Mariana Morais also qualified with a 7th-place finish in her heat. In the junior category, the qualifiers were Beatriz Sá and Joana Peixoto in the women's and Martim Conceicao and Nuno Barros in the men's.

The short course finals (originally due to be held on Thursday) have been put off because of the weather, and the competition schedule has had to be rearranged as a result.

The Portuguese are in the mix too, with Rui Lacerda and Ricardo Coelho in the direct final of the Senior Men's C1, and the much-anticipated pair of Fernando Pimenta and Jose Ramalho in the Senior Men's K2, which will be the final event of the championship on 25 October.