Slovak CanoeistMatej Beňuš won a silver medal in the men's single canoe discipline at the 2016 Summer Olympics on Tuesday. Thus, he has become the first Slovak to win a medal in Rio de Janeiro. Beňuš's final time was 95.02 seconds. He finished 0.85 seconds behind the Frenchman Denis Gargaud Chanut and 2.24 seconds ahead of the third-place Takuya Haneda of Japan. "Ever since I saw Michal Martikán winning the gold medal in Atlanta, 1996 I hoped to bring a medal home too," said the Slovak after the race. Matej Beňuš's silver is the 30th medal won by Slovak canoeists from the Olympic Games. His coach Juraj Minčík also earned a bronze medal in Sydney in 2000. "Matej did a great job. I knew he was well prepared and turned his hard work into this success," said Minčík.
Moreover, Slovakia can also celebrate the success of the third-placed Japanese Takuya Haneda. Haneda who is now 29 years old came to Slovakia when he was 18 and fell in love with canoeing; a sport which does not have any background in his country. Since then, Haneda has had Slovak coaches and is currently working with Milan Kubáň. He also earned a masters degree at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports of Comenius University in Bratislava. On Tuesday, he became the first Asian canoeist to win a medal at Olympic Games. "I would never have made it without Slovaks," said Haneda.
