Portuguese canoeing star Fernando Pimenta was crowned world champion in the K1 1000 meters, winning a dramatic final at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznan, Poland, on August 29, 2026.
The achievement adds another historic chapter to the career of the athlete from Ponte de Lima, widely regarded as Portugal’s greatest canoeist. Pimenta currently shares the record for the most medals ever won in the K1 Men 1000m at the World Championships with Norwegian legend Knut Holmann.
After capturing the K1 1000-meter crown on Saturday, Pimenta returned on Sunday and won the K1 5000 meters as well, leaving Poznan with two world titles and further strengthening his place among the greatest athletes in Portuguese sporting history.
The victory gave Pimenta his fourth K1 1000 world championship, following previous titles in 2018, 2021 and 2023. More significantly, it was his 10th World Championship medal in the K1 1000 alone, including four gold, three silver and three bronze, making him the most decorated paddler in the history of the event and surpassing Norwegian canoeing legend Knut Holmann.
At 37 years old, Pimenta also became the oldest athlete ever to win an individual Canoe Sprint world title. After the race, an emotional Pimenta spoke about the sacrifices required to remain at the top, including long periods away from his children, saying that creating a sporting legacy his sons could look back on was especially meaningful to him.
“Thirty minutes before the start I was on the platform crying alone and reflecting on my career,” he said. He dedicated the gold medal to his wife, Joana, describing her as his “best companion, friend, mental coach and listener.”
Portuguese President António José Seguro congratulated him, describing his career as unparalleled in Portuguese sport and highlighting his longevity, discipline and example to younger generations.
In an official statement, President Seguro remarked, “At 37, 16 years after his first world podium, and in a sport that does not forgive the slightest decline, Fernando Pimenta continues to compete against the best in the world and beat them.” He described Pimenta’s career as “a path without parallel in Portuguese sport,” built on “longevity, rigor and a demanding attitude toward himself” that has become an example for generations of athletes.
Fernando Pimenta was an Olympic silver medalist at London 2012 and has accumulated world and European titles across several distances during a remarkably long career. The Poznan triumph was even more impressive because Pimenta had taken bronze in the same event at the 2025 World Championships in Milan, before returning a year later to reclaim the world crown.
PAJ/Staff
