Canada wins silver in 1st ever women’s single canoe sprint at Tokyo Olympics

Canada’s Laurence Vincent-Lapointe won the silver medal in the first ever Olympic women’s 200-metre single canoe sprint event in Tokyo on Thursday.

Nevin Harrison of the United States took the gold while Liudmyla Luzan of Ukraine nabbed bronze in the historic final. Fellow Canadian Katie Vincent finished last in the race.

Vincent-Lapointe finished third in her semifinal round earlier Thursday and won her qualifying heat Wednesday, putting her in a strong position to earn a place on the medal podium.

The Tokyo Games are the first to include women in the canoe sprint events. Women have been relegated to the kayak races in previous Summer Games.

Vincent-Lapointe came into these Olympics with more than a decade spent as one of the top women athletes in the world in canoe sprint.

The Trois-Rivieres, Que., native has claimed gold in the 200-metres at multiple world championships, World Cups and Pan American championships, but had to wait until 2017 for the sport’s international federation and the International Olympic Committee to make room for women to race at the Olympics.

She’s set to join Vincent in the women’s 500-metre double canoe sprint qualifiers on Friday.