Fourth is like gold for Fouhy

KENT BLECHYNDEN/Fairfax Media

VALIANT FOURTH: Ben Fouhy put on a brave display in the final of the men's K1 1000, but it was not enough to be amongst the medals.

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It was a content Ben Fouhy who reflected on his fourth-place finish in today's K1 1000m at the Olympics, the Aucklander describing his achievement as feeling "like a gold".

The top New Zealand kayaker gave it his best shot in a final won by Great Britain's Tim Brabants, and at one stage as he worked his way through the field at the halfway mark (improving from seventh to fifth), he looked capable of finishing among the medals.

But with Brabants staying strong out in front the whole way, Norway's Erik Larsen timing his run nicely to finish in the silver position and Australian Ken Wallace coming home like a rocket to grab third, a medal was out of his reach. Fouhy battled till the end but was 1.7 seconds back in fourth.

"I'm pretty happy," said the 29-year-old silver medalist from Athens. "It would have been nice to have a medal, but I'm pretty privileged to already have one. There are some insanely capable, driven athletes who don't even make the final, and as we saw with [rower] Mahe [Drysdale], so many different things that can happen.

"This is like a gold for me in a way, given what I've had to overcome. It's just such a relief."

A frank Fouhy confessed he had twice come close to quitting the sport this year and that he had had to overcome major self-doubts even to line up in today's final.

"I had some serious doubts and it would have been so easy to give in and not even line up," he said with his usual honesty. "But I felt I gave myself the best opportunity. My mental focus throughout the race was an accumulation of all my years of training experience and setbacks.

"Physically, I wasn't the best out there, but mentally I think I've got something to look back on and feel proud about."

In terms of the doubts, Fouhy then expanded on what he said pretty much developed into a confidence crisis during his Games preparation cycle.

"Just a lack of form," he said. "The last four years I've worked really hard to push the boundaries on things and that's had consequences in dips in form and things. I've tried to pull it back together and that's been more difficult than I imagined. And then the confidence was really low.

"To pull out a final like that and get fourth... I feel really proud of what I was able to produce."

Fouhy said he had learned a lot about life over the last four years. "Excuse me for all the cliches and all that sort of crap, but it's given me a different perspective given the state I was in. So many times over the last four years I wanted to quit. Three times this year I was so close to quitting. To get fourth I had to discover a lot."

The 2003 world champion said he managed to go into the final with a positive attitude despite the setbacks.

"I was thinking I could sneak a gold, mate. But I was working really hard on keeping my head in my own boat. I wanted to put as much physically into it as I was able to. That was relfected with 100m to go when I got the wobbles and had a fair amount of lactate. I knew I couldn't give it any more.

Fouhy also paid a healthy tribute to gold medalist Brabants, a training partner in 2004 and '06 "He's been through some hard times that boy, he's got a big heart and deserves it. I'm really happy for him."

The Kiwi wouldn't be drawn on his future either, saying he needed time to think things through - "some time to chill". But he did confirm he would be taking a major step back on the intensity front.

"The last four years [have been] just hammer, hammer, hammer. You get taught the harder you work, you'll get there. But there's a bit more to it than that and I've neglected other areas of my life. It's taken a toll and I need some time to recover and come back with a more healthy approach to the game."

As fourth-place finishes in Olympic finals go, this clearly wasn't the worst. Fouhy's smile as he walked off after sharing his thoughts confirmed that.

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