## August 11, 2024 03:01:00
Agustín Vernice finished fourth in the canoeing discipline, narrowly missing out on adding another medal for Argentina on the penultimate day of the Olympic Games. Vernice crossed the finish line in the Final A in fourth position, with a time of 3:28.10, earning an Olympic diploma, just as he did in Tokyo 2020 when he finished eighth. The podium was topped by the Czech Josef Dostal (3:24.07), with Adam Varga (3:24.76) and Balint Kopasz (3:25.68) rounding out the podium.
Vernice had qualified for the final earlier in the day after finishing second in his semi-final. “This was a fourth-place finish where I gave it my all,” explained the paddler, who seemed affected by the format of the tournament. “The competitions at the Olympic Games are like this, with a very tight semi-final and final, but you have to adapt.” Regarding the final, Vernice said, “I didn’t know if I was coming eighth or fourth, to be honest. I was surprised. I knew I had lost the chance of a medal, but I wanted to leave with the feeling of giving everything I had.”
Beyond simply missing the podium, Vernice expressed satisfaction with the result. “In recent months I saw that a podium finish was possible,” he said. “But it was also possible that it wouldn’t happen because these are very close competitions. A fourth place isn’t bad,” the paddler said, praising his consistency in the discipline. “From 2017 until today, I have only failed to reach the final of a World Championship or Olympic Games once.”