/ Olympics 2006

August 26, 2004

By BRETT MARTEL / Associated Press

SCHINIAS, Greece – A splash at the finish line made for an Olympic highlight and a day that the U.S. canoe and kayak flatwater team would rather forget. With a last desperate stroke that rocked his kayak so hard he fell into the water, Frenchman Babak Amir Tahmasseb edged America's Rami Zur at the finish line Thursday and ended the U.S. team's best hope for a medal.

Zur's fourth-place finish in his 500-meter single kayak (K-1) race – he needed a top three to advance – was the most frustrating moment for the American team, which failed to get a boat in the finals.

They've now gone three Olympics without a medal, a streak that left the U.S. program's executive director, David Yarborough, shaking his head in disbelief at how far the team had fallen since 1988, when Greg Barton was part of two gold-medal winning boats.

"The fact is that some countries have put increasing resources into their flatwater program and we just have not," Yarborough said. "That's not the sole answer, but that's certainly a part of it."

The strongest racer on the team hadn't even come through the U.S. system. While born in California, Zur was raised in Israel, the country he represented at the Sydney Games.

He looked like a lock for the finals after barely losing his preliminary heat. And he was second halfway through his semifinal before being passed by German Lutz Altepost and Amir Tahmasseb at the finish.

Zur had one last chance to advance in the 500-meter pairs kayak (K-2), but he and partner Bartosz Wolski couldn't find the speed to stay with the top group. They finished more than a second behind third-place Italy, the final qualifier of that race.

"There's no point overanalyzing it and getting depressed," Zur said. "I'm very disappointed, but I've got to look forward and that's what I'm trying to do. Beijing is now my target."

The medal races on Friday and Saturday will feature most of the traditional powerhouses in flatwater canoe and kayak racing – eastern European countries that were once part of the communist bloc.

Germany has been most dominant, benefiting from the strong program in what was East Germany – the system that produced seven-time gold medalist Birgit Fischer, who'll race in both the women's K-2 500 and K-4 500 finals.

Ten of 12 German entries finished high enough in their preliminary heats to get byes to the finals. The two that didn't both had successful semifinals Thursday, with Altepost's second in the K-1 500 and Katrin Wagner's victory in her K-1 500 race.

Martin Doktor, the Czech Republic's double gold medalist in 1996, won his 500-meter single canoe semifinal, meaning he'll race in both the 500 and 1,000 C-1 finals. In each race he'll be up against Germany's Andreas Dittmer, defending world champion in both events and defending gold medalist at 1,000 meters.

Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Belarus each will have multiple entries in the finals, as well as Cuba, whose training programs got assistance from eastern Europe in the early 1980s.

Canada has been strongest among teams without a communist past. Adam van Koeverden won his K-1 500 semifinal, while fellow Canadian Richard Dalton was third in his C-1 500 semi, good enough to advance. Canada entered 11 events and the only boat that failed to make a final was the K-2 500 of Steven Jorens and Richard Dober. That pair also makes up half the K-4 that did move on, meaning every member of the Canadian canoe-kayak flatwater team will compete in a final for the first time in the country's history.

"The good performance of the whole Canadian team is not a surprise for us," Dalton said. "We have a good coach, we train hard and you will see the results soon."

As for the U.S. team, Carrie Johnson's day was much like Zur's. After Poland's Aneta Pastuszka was disqualified at a post-race weigh-in for her boat being too light, Johnson ended up fourth in her semifinal, only .3 seconds behind Britain's Lucy Hardin, the final qualifier. Sydney gold medalist Josefa Idem of Italy won that race, followed by Larissa Peisakhovitch of Israel.

Johnson and partner Lauren Spalding – both Hawaii natives with a background in paddling outrigger boats in the Pacific Ocean – were seventh in their K-2 race, about 1.5 seconds behind Belarus, the last qualifier. The Bulgarian entry won that semifinal, followed by Sweden.

And in the C-2 500, the pair of Jordan Malloch and Nate Johnson finished eighth.

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.