Guy Dresser | Royal Canoe Club - Last Friday saw the launch of one of the first post-London canoeing books – “100 days to history” – which documents the quest by Spanish C1 giant David Cal for a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Cal is one of the most successful C1 paddlers of all time and Spain’s most prolific Olympic medalist with five  Olympic medals to his name, won at three separate editions of the Games.

He won a gold in Athens in C1 1,000m, followed this up with a silver in the 500m and in Beijing won silver in both disciplines. Sadly the 500m was dropped from the Olympic programme in London but Cal still managed a silver in the 1,000m event.

Written by canoeing coach Fariñas Morlán Jesus, the book recounts the hundred days running up to Cal’s 1,000m final – his fifth Olympic final. The launch is this Friday and the Spanish Olympic Committee is hosting the gala event. We’ll see if we can get a review copy and provide some English translation.

Details can be found on the Spanish Olympic Committee’s website.

There’s an interview with Morlán here in the Spanish canoaykayak magazine. In the interview, Morlán  reveals that he and Cal will sit down shortly to discuss the road to Rio in 2016. With four years, 14,000 kilmometers and 3,500 hours of training facing any athlete aiming for the next Olympic Games, there is much to discuss, he says.