It was like a return to the origins, more than two decades later. Fernando Pimenta even started swimming when he was just four years old. He was fine, no water. In the year 2000, contrary to what was happening, the activities of the Club Náutico de Ponte de Lima were not opened and, in order not to stop, he decided to try canoeing. He put a lot of water in for the times he turned the kayak, he became the best. With many hours of training, with enormous dedication, with an attachment to the land that saw him born that not even the move to Benfica in 2018 pinched him. The leading national clubs had been looking for the athlete for a long time, only then did he accept. For various reasons, the last weekend and the two gold medals won in the Marathon World Championships had significance at the level of the Olympic podiums.
If it is true that local legend speaks of Lima as the river of oblivion, no one has forgotten anyone there. Pimenta did not forget the land where he was born, the inhabitants of Ponte de Lima did not forget their prodigal son, the opponents did not forget who they competed with – and if it is difficult to speak of the athlete as a fish out of water, whatever the context He has not participated in a marathon World Championship for ten years, after winning the absolute bronze in Rome in 2012 (he was runner-up in the U-23 division). All to close a season where he won 15 medals, between World Cups, European and World Speed Championships in addition to this Marathon World Championship.
In total, in an account that is usually out of date for each international competition to which it is presented, it already has a total of 123 medals, in a journey that began in 2005 when it managed to win the K4 500 test of the European Youth Olympic Festival. . Since then, he has won two Olympic medals (silver in K2 1,000 with Emanuel Silva in 2012, bronze in K1 1,000 in 2020), 14 medals in Speed World Championships, including four golds in K1 1,000 and K1 5,000 or 25 podiums in Speed European with six golds, 11 silvers and eight bronzes. A resume of choice that doesn’t erase something you’ve regretted many times: the lack of recognition of the facts and of the sport itself.
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Source: Observadora
