First up were Ben Gibb and Bradyn in the C2. Unfortunately they didnt paddle their first run as well as they could, incurring 4 touches and a dubious 50 second penalty..... it was a shame that all 3 judges saw it differently to the whole kiwi camp and video, but the Chief Judge was adamant it had to stick. Finishing first runs in 25th place they knew they had to produce something special, and they did. A clean run in 121.30, 11th fastest for 2nd runs, but not enough to make the cut. We all felt gutted for them, but they seem positive finishing with a great run and will be back again next year in juniors as they are still young.
The fastest C2's were from Poland, followed by the Germans and Czechs.
Next up we had the 3 kiwi, K1 men . Malcolm Gibson, who had been having issues with an infected knee, didnt go as well as we know he can. His first run a little off the pace witha recirc. His 2nd run he nailed the top half of the course but had a small problem at the bottom.
Calum Gibb next and he had 2 touches in his first run and was left on 44th. He showed some real maturity ( for a just 15 year old) to improve his time and penalty count to finish on 38th ensuring he is racing again tommorrow.
Calum Brash made a couple of small costly errors in his first run, and then produced a second faster run but in this classy, K1 mens field of 80 paddlers, error free, fast runs were needed to make semis. Unfortunately for the 2 Mainlanders they wont be racing semis tommorrow.
K1 mens teams this arvo so they can have another 2 runs on the course.
37 degrees as I write this and about to go back to the course for teams for K1 men. We hear news of storms and hope everyone is OK in NZ.
Sue
4 comments:
there are times when video review only increases the pain; ask the allblacks.. great to see that the heart stayed strong throughout, and some awesome paddling against best in the world. were following it live on the net till the power went out in the storm... a bit of a relief really, cos listening to shell yell at a computer screen is kind of worrying really. Awesome that half the team made semis - Id like to see all the boys with flame red hair now to support young Callum. Cheers Phil.
All going well keep up the good work. Off to Raro shortly, so will be looking forward to that. Good luck to those in the semis and well done for awesome efforts for those that missed out.
Love MA & Pa
The whole team, including Management, have preformed outstandingly well. Each paddler will no doubt think of things they could have done better - but so will every other competitor. On a world stage, you've all stepped up and given it your best and we're all very proud of you back here.
All the best for the semis.
Eric W.
Firstly many congratulations to all those who competed yesterday and the day before with some real kiwi pride in the qualifying races. And the very best of luck to all the 4 solo paddlers who will take to the water again today for the semis and who knows maybe even a final or two! I cant help stop thinking like many others that there should be 6 not 4 kiwi paddlers out there again today. As we all saw very clearly yesterday (+ we also have clear video evidence of it) Mike Dawson stated on his website that Bradyn & Ben "received a dodgy call on a gate at the bottom on the course and were given a 50sec penalty" Without that 50 sec penalty sticking they would have been left in 14th place and easily into the semis with possibly a very good shot also at a final race also. The officials in any sport always have a very tough job to do and the Chief Judges decision in this case it seems is always final. However if you want to take the time to check the ICF rules governing these races you will all see that in such cases the officials have certain obligations and also some leeway where it very clearly states .... Rule 29.8 " At all times the benefit of any doubt MUST be given to the competitor" http://www.canoeicf.com/site/canoeint/if/downloads/About%20ICF/Rules/2007%20final%20version/ICF%20SLR%20Rules%202007-6.03.07%20for%20printing%20-%20Art.%2013.2.1.2%20Amendment.pdf Maybe the officials are not personally dobuting their own call but the camera also does not lie. Some other items of interest are .. Rule 36 also still allows for an official protest to be tabled up to 1 hour before the start of the next C2 semis race if the last team UKR to qualify is only there because of this dubious call and should perhaps be bumped out , and Rule 9.3 still also allows some discretion by the chief judge to possibly offer these paddlers who recieved a dubious penalty a fair and reasonable rerun. Some food for thought? Which ever way it goes both Ben and Bradyn have done us and themselves proud. Neil P
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