Kayakers Genevieve Orton, KC Fraser qualify for Rio

Genevieve Orton and KC Fraser earned Canada's final Olympic canoe-kayak sprint spots. Michelle Russell will not be going to the Rio Olympics.

Orton and Fraser finished 1.62 seconds ahead of Michelle Russell and Madeline Schmidt in the K2 500-metre race-off in Montreal to take the win. 

Fraser, of Oakville, Ont., won gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games in the K4 500 alongside Russell, Fournel and Hannah Vaughan.

"It's amazing, I'm so happy," Orton, a native of Lake Echo, N.S., told CBCSports.ca. "It's nice that we'll have a couple more weeks of good training to get in before [the Olympics.]"

"We certainly didn't perfect our race today, so [there's] a lot of good training still to come but I couldn't be happier," Orton said.

It had been an arduous run of competitions for Russell, who earned Canada's quota spot in the K1 500 after a three-medal performance at the 2015 Pan Am Games. However, the Fall River, N.S., native lost to Émilie Fournel in a race-off in May. Friday's race with Toronto's Schmidt was their final chance to qualify for Rio.

"It didn't really click in until we crossed the line because it's been such a long process, but it's done, and we're going and it's amazing," Orton said in a press release from Canoe Kayak Canada.

The following Canadian paddlers have already qualified for the upcoming Olympics:

• Andréanne Langlois, Quebec, Que. (K1 200)
• Émilie Fournel, Montreal, Que. (K1 500)
• Mark de Jonge, Halifax, N.S. (K1 200)
• Adam van Koeverden, Oakville, Ont. (K1 1,000)
• Mark Oldershaw, Burlington, Ont. (C1 1,000)
• Michael Tayler, Ottawa, Ont. (K1 slalom)
• Cameron Smedley, Dunrobin, Ont. (C1 slalom)

'Natural combination' of Orton, Fraser

Orton and Fraser teamed up in September of 2015 for the K2 event after Fraser's run with the K4 squad. The duo complement each other well.

"[KC has] always excelled in the back divisions of boats and I've always been quite good in the front, so it's sort of a natural combination to have her and I together," Orton said. "We're both towards the ends of our careers, too, so we were both in a very similar mindset coming into this race."

Canoe Kayak Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee, will officially announce its Olympic and Paralympic rosters on Monday.

"We're both extremely grateful to have the opportunity to go at all. It seems like we've both been trying for a very long time, so it's a really fantastic way to finish off a career of paddling," Orton said.

"I'd be happy to retire without going, but I'm certainly 10,000 times more happy to be retiring post-Olympics."