The 34-year-old Ponomarenko Janić, a native of the Primorska region, qualified for the finals by placing seventh in the semi-finals. She was not among the favorites to take home a medal, but was very close to third place in the end. Ponomarenko Janić competed in lane eight, and was 0.368 seconds short of winning the bronze.

“I’m very satisfied with fourth place. They told me I was close, but I didn’t really sense that, and three hundredths of a second isn’t all that little in a 200-meter race. It was hard. There was as strong sidewind blowing before the race and my lane wasn’t the best for that wind, so I couldn’t quite find my place. Fortunately, the wind was gone by the time the race started. I focused on myself. The start was 100 percent better than yesterday, and I believe I ended up performing really well; I got my best Olympic result ever,” said the Slovenian Olympian after the race. Just before the Games, she spent time training in Spain alongside the previous and current Olympic champion.

By finishing fourth, Ponomarenko Janić improved on her best result at the Olympics. Eight years ago, she finished sixth in Beijing. She doesn’t have any regrets about her fourth place finish, but she adds: “Of course I will ask myself if I could have been even faster, but I performed well, and I have no reason to blame myself for anything.”

Ponomarenko Janić has another competition awaiting her in Rio: the 500-meter race on Wednesday. “This is a more difficult discipline, but during the past two years, I’ve been better at 500 meters than at 200 meters. Wednesday will be particularly difficult because the qualifications and the semifinal will take place within one hour, which will require me to apply my power strategically, so I’ll have enough strength remaining for the semifinal,” added the Slovenian kayaker.

R. K.

Translated by J.B.