Olympian Marcus Cooper leaves the K4 and bets on the K1 in his journey towards Los Angeles 2028

Spanish canoeist Marcus Cooper, teammate of Saúl Craviotto in the highly successful K4, reveals his next athletic move: “I’ve just set myself an impossible challenge,” he says.

The Mallorcan paddler Marcus Cooper could have retired from the sport with a full trophy case, having won every Olympic medal and carried Spain’s flag at Paris 2024. But instead, he’s raised the bar and decided to leave the K4 behind and return to his roots: the K1.

After months of reflection, doubts, and solo training in Alcúdia, the Spanish paddler has chosen to go back to his beginnings, even though he admits that the 1000 meters “isn’t his favorite distance.” “What I achieved in Rio, I already have, and the most I could do is repeat it. But I wanted to complicate my life in a different way, to truly challenge myself,” Cooper explains.

According to Marcus himself, the decision became final just days before the World Cup, when he sat down with the national coach: “I asked Miguel if he thought he could prepare a full training plan for the K1-1000. He said yes, and I told him: ‘Perfect, then I’m leaving the K4. I’m going for the K1.’”

“It’s nothing personal, just a personal choice, because I feel that now it’s harder to achieve than it was in Rio. I’ve spent eight years focused on the 500 and the K4. Now it’s time to reinvent myself,” says Spain’s flag bearer in Paris 2024. Cooper has won multiple world and European championship medals, including three golds, and was a key figure in the Spanish K4 team during its golden era. His move to the K1 1000 represents a new personal challenge in a career defined by ambition, versatility, and fierce competitiveness.

In an interview with EFE, the Mallorcan, gold medalist in Rio 2016 (K1 1000m), silver in Tokyo 2021 and bronze in Paris 2024, both in K4 500m, made it clear he’s not doing things halfway. Despite having achieved it all, he feels a strong need to test himself and find out how far he can go.

“I’m not going to do it, but the truth is I could retire because I’ve already achieved everything, and I feel happy personally. I’m still active, very active — I’m not going halfway. I’ve just set myself an impossible challenge: to return to the K1, the individual event, and for that I had to leave my team,” Cooper emphasized.

The bronze in Paris 2024, won alongside Saúl Craviotto, Carlos Arévalo, and Rodrigo Germade, was the icing on the cake. But for the two-time world and European champion, it was exactly what he needed to understand where his true limits lie.

“I always joke that bronze was the medal I was missing, the color I was missing. And being the flag bearer for an entire country, not just any country, but Spain, is a huge honor. I’m motivated to push myself personally, to make things a bit harder. To find out what I’m really capable of, where my true limit is,” he said.

As a role model in the world of canoeing, Cooper advised young athletes aspiring to compete in the Olympics to “try not to think of the Games as the end goal, but instead focus on the details, strength, endurance, technique, because that’s where the difference lies between those who make it and those who don’t.”

“Canoeing is a sport where you have to pay attention to so many details… strength, endurance, technique, which is hugely important. Whoever can master all those details, even if it means training 24 hours a day, will have a big advantage,” he emphasized.

Cooper underlined that it’s not yet time to say goodbye to canoeing: “That moment will come overnight, but I know it’s not time just yet.”

With Marcus now focused on the K1 1000, and possibly exploring the K2 500, which he doesn’t rule out if he finds the right partner, Spanish canoeing is entering an exciting transitional phase, led by the forward-thinking vision of its technical staff and the unwavering ambition of its top athletes.