The women's C-2 500 metres sprint canoeing event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 6 and 7 August 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 26 canoeists (13 boats of 2) from 13 nations competed.
Background This was the debut appearance of the event, replacing the men's K-2 200 metres as the Olympics moved towards gender equality.
The reigning World Champions were Sun Mengya and Xu Shixiao of China.
Qualification
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter only 1 qualified boat (2 canoeists) in the event. A total of 13 qualification places were available, initially allocated as follows:
8 places awarded through the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships 5 places awarded through continental tournaments, 1 per continent
Qualifying places were awarded to the NOC, not to the individual canoeists who earned the place.
The Americas continental tournament was cancelled; that place was allocated through the World Championships, with the place going to Japan. The Africa place was reallocated as well, with Europe receiving a second spot.
Competition format Sprint canoeing uses a four-round format for events with at least 11 boats, with heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. For a 13-boat event, the rounds are as follows:
Heats: Two heats of 6 and 7 boats each. The top 2 boats in each heat (4 boats total) advance directly to the semifinals, with all others (9 boats) going to the quarterfinals. Quarterfinals: Two heats of 4 and 5 boats each. The top 3 boats in each heat (6 boats total) advance to the semifinals, with the remaining 3 boats out of medal contention and competing in the consolation Final B. Semifinals: Two heats of 5 boats each. The top 4 boats in each heat (8 boats total) advance to the medal Final A, with the remaining 2 boats out of medal contention and competing in consolation Final B. Finals: Final A consists of the top 8 boats, awarding the medals as well as 4th through 8th place. Final B features the remaining 5 boats, awarding 9th through 13th places.
The course is a flatwater course 9 metres wide. The name of the event describes the particular format within sprint canoeing. The "C" format means a canoe, with the canoeist kneeling and using a single-bladed paddle to paddle and steer (as opposed to a kayak, with a seated canoeist, double-bladed paddle, and foot-operated rudder). The "2" is the number of canoeists in each boat. The "500 metres" is the distance of each race.
Schedule The event was held over two consecutive days, with two rounds per day. All sessions started at 9:30 a.m. local time, though there are multiple events with races in each session.
+Sprint Event↓/Date → Mon 2 Tue 3 Wed 4 Thu 5 Fri 6 Sat 7 Women's C-2 500 m H F
Results Heats Progression System: 1st-2nd to SF, rest to QF.
Heat 1 RankLaneCanoerCountryTimeNotes16Xu ShixiaoSun Mengya1:57.870OB, SF25Lisa JahnSophie Koch2:01.184SF31Laurence Vincent LapointeKatie Vincent2:02.170QF43Dilnoza RakhmatovaNilufar Zokirova2:04.854QF51Irina AndreevaOlesia Romasenko2:05.604QF64Karen RocoMaría Mailliard2:09.820QF77Bernadette WallaceJosephine Bulmer2:11.322QF
Heat 2 RankLaneCanoerCountryTimeNotes13Liudmyla LuzanAnastasiia Chetverikova2:01.156SF24Virág BallaKincső Takács2:02.344SF35Yarisleidis Cirilo DuboysKatherin Nuevo Segura2:03.229QF47Daniela CociuMaria Olărașu2:06.070QF51Svetlana UssovaMargarita Torlopova2:09.024QF66Daryna PikulevaNadzeya Makarchanka2:09.799QF72Manaka KubotaTeruko Kiriake2:16.791QF
Quarterfinals Progression System: 1st-3rd to SF, rest to Final B.
Quarterfinal 1 RankLaneCanoerCountryTimeNotes15Laurence Vincent LapointeKatie Vincent2:02.259SF24Daniela CociuMaria Olărașu2:03.434SF32Daryna PikulevaNadzeya Makarchanka2:04.951SF43Svetlana UssovaMargarita Torlopova2:06.179FB56Bernadette WallaceJosephine Bulmer 2:11.180FB
Quarterfinal 2 RankLaneCanoerCountryTimeNotes15Yarisleidis Cirilo DuboysKatherin Nuevo Segura2:03.282SF24Dilnoza RakhmatovaNilufar Zokirova2:04.450SF33Irina AndreevaOlesia Romasenko2:04.703SF46Karen RocoMaría Mailliard2:04.969FB52Manaka KubotaTeruko Kiriake2:08.849FB
Semifinals Progression System: 1st-4th to Final A, rest to Final B.
Semifinal 1 RankLaneCanoerCountryTimeNotes14Xu ShixiaoSun Mengya2:01.369FA23Yarisleidis Cirilo DuboysKatherin Nuevo Segura2:03.655FA35Virág BallaKincső Takács2:04.545FA46Daniela CociuMaria Olărașu2:05.910FA52Daryna PikulevaNadzeya Makarchanka2:07.205FB
Semifinal 2 RankLaneCanoerCountryTimeNotes14Liudmyla LuzanAnastasiia Chetverikova2:02.893FA23Laurence Vincent LapointeKatie Vincent2:04.316FA35Lisa JahnSophie Koch2:04.749FA42Irina AndreevaOlesia Romasenko2:04.968FA56Dilnoza RakhmatovaNilufar Zokirova2:09.614FB
Finals
Final A RankLaneCanoerCountryTimeNotes5Xu ShixiaoSun Mengya1:55.495OB4Liudmyla LuzanAnastasiia Chetverikova1:57.4996Laurence Vincent LapointeKatie Vincent1:59.04142Lisa JahnSophie Koch1:59.94357Virág BallaKincső Takács2:00.28963Yarisleidis Cirilo DuboysKatherin Nuevo Segura2:01.62371Daniela CociuMaria Olărașu2:01.75088Irina AndreevaOlesia Romasenko2:04.875
Final B RankLaneCanoerCountryTimeNotes93Karen RocoMaría Mailliard2:02.698105Daryna PikulevaNadzeya Makarchanka2:04.351114Dilnoza RakhmatovaNilufar Zokirova2:04.658126Svetlana UssovaMargarita Torlopova2:04.859132Bernadette WallaceJosephine Bulmer2:05.698147Manaka KubotaTeruko Kiriake2:06.196
References