Jose Ramalho is on fire. The 42-year-old kayaker just grabbed a silver medal at the European Canoeing Championships in Ponte de Lima. This puts Portugal on the podium for the seventh time in the competition.
Ramalho went toe-to-toe with Britain’s James Russel in the K1 marathon event. Russel took the gold, finishing the 29.8 kilometers in 2:06.36 hours. Ramalho was hot on his heels, just 1.34 seconds behind. Norway’s Jon Vold rounded out the podium, 2.55 seconds back from the winner.
This silver medal adds to Portugal’s haul. They’ve already got seven medals, including Fernando Pimenta’s gold in the short K1 event, where Ramalho took bronze. The team also won gold and silver in the junior C1 events, thanks to Leonardo Barbosa and Lara Lopes. Rui Lacerda took silver in the senior C1 event, and Francisco dos Santos grabbed silver in the under-23 K1 event.