USA's Nevin Harrison misses 2nd Olympic gold by 'less than a blink of an eye'

VAIRES-SUR-MARNE, France – Nevin Harrison came one agonizing 100th of a second away from winning her second gold medal in the women's 200-meter canoe sprint Sunday, but in some ways the Paris Olympics experience was more fulfilling than her last.

"I think this one was even more special because I got to go hug my family right after," Harrison said. "I wouldn't trade that for the world. So I definitely got yelled at by security just now cause I went through the gate, but giving my mom, my dad, my boyfriend, all them hugs was so worth it. I think I would take this Olympics a million times over the last one because I was able to share it with the people that I love."

Harrison took silver in the most tightly-contested 200-meter sprint in Olympic history, finishing in 44.13 seconds but losing to Canada’s Katie Vincent (44.12) in a photo finish.

Both racers shattered the previous world record of 44.5 seconds set by Canada's Laurence Vincent-LaPointe in 2018.

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Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys, the first Cuban to reach an Olympic final in canoeing, took bronze in 44.36 seconds.

"Going, I think I heard 44.1 is unbelievable and unheard of, and I knew that I could go that fast and I'm sure she did, too," Harrison said. "So finally putting those times down and breaking that world record that happened so long ago, definitely I'm sure felt good for her and I'm incredibly happy for her. That's got to be the best accomplishment ever. But I'm also proud of myself. I put that time down, too, and hers might have been a hundredth of a second faster, but it's still a world record in my heart."

Beyond Saturday's race, Harrison said she was proud of how she navigated a difficult road to get back to the Olympics after winning gold as an 18-year-old in Tokyo, when spectators were largely absent from the games because of COVID.

She battled back injuries and mental strain in recent years, and last week tore ligaments in her neck while training that hurt so bad she said she was in tears after a practice run on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Harrison wore a lidocaine patch on her neck to numb the pain. She said she plans to get imaging when she returns to the U.S. to determine the extent of the injury.

"I think a year ago I didn't really know if I was going to be able to get here at all, so I think being here in the first place was a blessing in and of itself and any medal that I would bring home would be even just a cherry on top, really," she said. "You always wonder, what if I didn't hurt myself last week? What would I have been able to do? But ultimately you can't change what's happened and you really just have to take it day by day and that's what I've done and I couldn't be more proud."

Vincent, who took a bronze earlier in the games as part of Canada’s 500-meter canoe doubles team, called Saturday's race "one of the most incredible C1 (canoe single) finals that has probably ever happened for our sport."

Harrison acknowledged she was "a little disappointed" with her finish, but said she won't spend too much time obsessing over what she could have done different.

"It is less than a blink of an eye for sure, but that's what racing sports are," she said. "That's what sprints are. It's always going to be by measures that you can't even see. And is it fair? Not always, but it is what it is. And I think ultimately we can't really fault ourselves for that. We all went out there and gave it one hell of a go, and I'm proud of everyone that lined up."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

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