Next medal in the water: Hannes Aigner wins bronze for Germany

Slalom canoeist Hannes Aigner secured the bronze medal in the Olympic final in Tokyo.

The third from London 2012 had to admit defeat only to the new Olympic champion Jiri Prskavec from the Czech Republic and Jakub Grigar from Slovakia with a faultless run this Friday in a single kayak.

For the German Canoe Association (DKV), historic days are coming to an end in Japan.

After the gold from Ricarda Funk and the bronze medals from Sideris Tasiadis and Andrea Herzog, bronze from Aigner was the fourth medal in the fourth competition.

Best record since 1972

The slalom canoeists have not had such an Olympic track record since 1972, when the GDR athletes won three golds and one bronze.

Even if the 32-year-old Augsburg, who became world champion in 2018, allowed himself small mistakes and had problems at gate five, he managed an overall solid final run in which he was able to avoid gross mistakes.

Aigner had minor problems in the semi-finals and only entered the battle for the medals in seventh place.

At the Kasai Canoe Slalom Center, co-favorites Peter Kauzer from Slovenia and Italian Giovanni de Gennaro had already failed in the semifinals.