Pau Echaniz is on cloud…

In his Olympic debut, the 23-year-old Spanish slalom canoeist crossed the finish line with an 88.87 in the men’s single kayak slalom event at the 2024 Paris Games to claim the bronze medal.

“I am very tired, I am exhausted, but that’s the price of winning a medal and I would pay it a thousand times over. I am very happy,” Echaniz said following his medal-winning performance.

Echaniz came in behind Italy’s Giovanni De Gennaro, who pulled out a sensational run in a time of 88.22 to win gold; France’s Titouan Castryck finished two-tenths of a second behind to take silver in his first Olympics,

Echaniz looked good as he opened proceedings, setting a time of 88.87 seconds that forced the rest of the field to dig deep, and despite a slew of Olympic medal winners coming in his wake, only two men proved able to beat his time.

“I knew I could be in the fight,” said Echaniz. “I was prepared, calm and knew what to do at every moment, with all my energy focused on achieving this goal.

Hailing from San Sebastian, the Spaniard won the gold in the Slalom K-1 team event at the 2023 European Games.