Kayakers miss out on medals
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Rowing/Kayaking
Ben Fouhy's fourth place in last night's Olympic K1 1000m final felt like a gold medal.
The Atlanta silver medallist was a content paddler after turning in his best performance in four years on a day when the two Kiwi kayaking crews had to settle for near misses at Shunyi Canoeing Park.
Fouhy was just over 1.5sec away from bronze and an hour later the K2 1000m crew of Steve Ferguson and Mike Walker finished sixth in their final, .58 sec off third placegetters Italy.
With sweat pouring down his face, Fouhy said he was treating his fourth placing as a career highlight, given the mental torture he put himself through over the last four years.
"This is like a gold for me after what I've been through, and I wouldn't have said that before. "I hope I don't wake up grumpy, but it is such a relief," Fouhy said.
"It would have been nice to have a medal but I've already got one and there are some insanely competitive paddlers out there who haven't."
Fouhy is a notoriously slow starter but even though he came seventh at the 250m, he was still well in touch with the leaders.
He was up to fifth at the halfway mark and then fourth at the 750m, but he hit the wall 100m from the finish when lodging a claim for the bronze.
Briton Tim Brabants won gold in 3mins 26.323; Norway's Eirik Veraas Larsen came second and Australia's Ken Wallace third.
Fouhy's time was 3mins 29.193.
The race was notable for the shock failure of Canadian Adam van Koeverden, who was unbeaten in the K1 until he finished second to last yesterday.
"I was thinking I could sneak a gold out there," Fouhy said.
"I wasn't really looking, I just had my head in my own boat and I felt if I looked across it wouldn't boost my confidence.
"I just wanted to finish my race and put in as much physically as I could. That was reflected with 100m to go when I got the wobbles."
Fouhy, of Taumaranui, is unsure of his future but hinted he will keep paddling after regaining form at the Olympic regatta.
"I'm going to chill and reconnect with the wider perspective of life.
"The last four years have been so intense and there is a little bit more to life than that.
"I've hammered myself 24 hours a day seven days a week for four years so it's taken its toll. I need to take some time out and hopefully comeback with a healthier approach to the game."
Ferguson and Walker paddled aggressively in their K2 1000m final before fading to sixth.
They were fifth at the halfway mark but could not improve in a race won by Germany in 3mins 11.809sec.
New Zealand were timed at 3.15.329s.
"It was a tough race," Walker said.
"We got to the final 100m and I thought, this is the Olympics, and put more effort into every stroke. But we fell apart in that final 100m and other crews came through on the inside.".
"We don't have any regrets, we both went to the line totally spent. We left nothing out there."
- © Fairfax NZ News
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