Megha Pradeep wins bronze in Asian Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifiers

Megha Pradeep won a bronze medal at the 2024 Asian Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifiers in the women's C1-500m category, clocking a timing of 02:28.027, held at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday.

Diep Thi Huong of Vietnam and Ulyana Kisseleva won the gold and silver medals respectively in the same category. It is one of the three non-Olympic categories at the event.

This event, doubling up as the Paris Olympics qualifying event and the Sprint Championships began on April 18 and will conclude on April 21. Six out of the nine categories double up as qualifying categories for the upcoming Paris Olympics.

India has fielded 13 athletes for the event, of whom only 10 are competing in the Olympic qualifying categories. So far only one podium finish has been secured, that too in the non-Olympic category.

The top two boats in the men’s and women’s K1 and C1 events and the top boat in the men’s and women’s K2 and C2 events from the lot will secure Olympic quotas. It is noteworthy that India has thus far never competed in a canoe event at the Summer Olympics.

Only the Men's K1-1000m and C1-1000m along with the mixed K2-500m finals are remaining in the event. The heats are scheduled for Saturday while the semifinals and finals are scheduled for Sunday.

Gyaneshwor Singh Philem will represent India in the C1-1000m category and Varinder Singh will compete in the K1-1000m category.