Archive for the ‘Canoe/Kayak Slalom’ Category.
19th August 2008, 01:08 am
Updated: 2008-08-15 16:17:14
(BEIJING, August 15) — Canoe/Kayak Slalom Women’s Kayak Single semifinal concluded on Friday, August 15.
The event was rescheduled to Friday due to heavy rain and lightning on Thursday. World No. 86 Emilie Fer of France paddled fastest among all semifinalists by clocking 96.50 seconds. She was served a two-second penalty by touching one of the gates, resulting in a total time of 98.50 seconds. She was 1.37 seconds behind defending champion Elena Kaliská of Slovakia who finished the race perfectly in 97.13 seconds.
Sydney gold medalist 40-year-old Štěpánka Hilgertová of the Czech Republic was served with two two-second penalties, finishing at total time of 101.78 seconds.
World No. 11 Jacqueline Lawrence ranked fourth with a total time of 103.40 seconds, followed by World No. 78 Maria Cristina Giai Pron’s 104.52 seconds.
Five other kayakers advanced to the final, and they are (by ranking): Takeshita Yuriko of Japan, Violetta Oblinger Peters of Austria, Heather Corrie of the United States, Stanuch Agnieszka of Poland and Ariane Herde of the Netherlands.
World No. 4 Li Jingjing was the upset of the day, finishing 13th because of a 50-seoncd penalty.
19th August 2008, 01:08 am
Updated: 2008-08-15 13:39:23
(BEIJING, August 15) — The Canoe/Kayak Slalom events delayed on Thursday, August 14 due to lightning and heavy rain have been rescheduled. The new schedule is:
Women’s K1 semifinal: 3:00 p.m. (UTC/GMT 8), August 15
Men’s C2 final: 4:12 p.m., August 15
Women’s K1 final: 4:37 p.m., August 15
19th August 2008, 01:08 am
Updated: 2008-08-14 17:55:35
(BEIJING, August 14) — Paddlers competed in the semifinal of the Men’s Slalom Canoe Double (C2) on Thursday, August 14, but the final in that event was postponed to Friday as a result of rainy weather. The semifinal and final runs of the Women’s Slalom Kayak Single (K1) competition will also commence on Friday, August 15.
Men’s Slalom C2
Ten pairs competed in the semifinal, with the top six finishers advancing to the final. Germany’s Felix Michel and Sebastian Piersig ranked first with 94.38 seconds.
The World No. 1 pair, Peter Hochschorner and his twin brother Pavol Hochschorner from Slovakia, ranked second with 94.88 seconds, 0.50 seconds behind the first pair after a two-second penalty was added. They remain a big favorite for the gold.
The third finishers were World No. 44 Ondřej Štěpánek and Jaroslav Volf from the Czech Republic.
19th August 2008, 01:07 am
Updated: 2008-08-14 16:52:17
(BEIJING, 14 August) — Canoe/Kayak Slalom events were delayed due to lightning and heavy rain that immediately followed the semifinals of the Men’s C2.
The Women’s K1 semifinals and final, and Men’s C2 final are moved to Friday, August 15. Exact starting times will be announced.
19th August 2008, 01:07 am
Updated: 2008-08-14 15:55:28
(BEIJING, August 14) — The semifinal run of the Canoe/Kayak Slalom Men’s Canoe Double concluded on Thursday, August 14, with six of 10 pairs advancing to the final.
World No. 1 Pavol Hochschorner and his twin brother Peter were surprisingly overrun by World No. 52 Felix Michel and Sebastian Piersig of Germany, who finished 94.38 seconds without a single penalty. The Hochschorner brother did paddle faster than the German pair, but incurred a two-second penalty after touching a gate. They placed second trailing just 0.50 seconds behind the Germans.
World No. 14 Marcin Pochwala and Paweł Sarna of Poland, and World No. 15 Samma Masatoshi and Nagao Hiroyuki of Japan, didn’t make it to the final by placing eighth and ninth respectively.
World No. 44 Ondřej Štěpánek and Jaroslav Volf of the Czech Republic ranked third with a total time of 95.33 seconds without any penalty, followed by World No. 10 Mikhail Kuznetsov and Dmitri Larionov of Russia who clocked 98.57 seconds. Cedric Forgit and Martin Braud of France were fifth with a time of 102.76 seconds after four penalty seconds were added, and Italy’s Andrea Benetti and Erik Masoero were the last qualifiers with a sixth-place finish of 103.64 including two penalty seconds.
The final will start at 4:47 p.m. (UTC/GMT 
on Thursday.
19th August 2008, 01:07 am
Updated: 2008-08-13 21:34:31
(BEIJING, August 13) — The qualification round for the Canoe/Kayak Slalom Men’s C2 and Women’s K1 concluded on August 13 with all medal candidates passing to the semifinal.
Competition favorites, Slovakian twin brothers Peter and Pavol Hochschorner, were on form today, topping the qualification in a Michal Martikán fashion. However, both of them were humble when commenting on tomorrow’s final.
“We are not very happy. Today was about technique but tomorrow is more important. We don’t want to talk about medals. We can tell you after the race tomorrow.” said Peter.
“Tomorrow will be harder as gates four and five change, so we need clean runs.” Pavol added.
French pair Cédric Forgit and Martin Braud finished second, followed by Chinese pair Hu Minghai and Shu Junrong.
In the Women’s K1, defending champion Elena Kaliská of Slovakia demonstrated her superiority by finishing first without any penalty. She also remained conservative when speaking on tomorrow’s final. “Tomorrow will be very important. The gates will be harder. Everything will depend on tonight, if I sleep well,” she said.
“The positions of the gates are not so difficult. Tomorrow I will try to overcome the gates from the third to the sixth, they are the hardest ones. The current is too hard, the stream of the water. It was easier in Sydney and Athens.”
World No. 4 Li Jingjing of China finished second, followed by World No. 29 Štěpánka Hilgertová of Czech Republic.
19th August 2008, 01:06 am
Updated: 2008-08-13 20:20:05
(BEIJING, August 13) — Paddlers will compete for medals in the Men’s Slalom Canoe Double (C2) and Women’s Slalom Kayak Single (K1) on Thursday, August 14.
Men’s Slalom C2
Ten pairs are starting in Thursday’s semifinal competition. The World No. 1 pair, Peter Hochschorner and his twin brother Pavol Hochschorner from Slovakia, ranked first with 196.73 seconds after Wednesday’s heats, and they remain the biggest favorite for gold.
Peter Hochschorner and Pavol Hochschorner from Slovakia (Photo credit: Getty)
Second place entering the semifinal is the French pair Cedric Forgit and Martin Braud, who finished 1.83 seconds behind the Hochschorner brothers on Wednesday.
The third finisher from the heats is the World No. 4 duo China’s Hu Minghai and Shu Junrong.
Women’s Slalom K1
Fifteen paddlers will race on Thursday in the semifinal. Defending champion Elena Kaliska of Slovakia ranked first in Wednesday’s competition with 186.19 seconds.
Elena Kaliska (Photo credit: Getty)
World No. 4 Li Jingjing of China finished second, 1.37 seconds behind Kaliska.
Stepanka Hilgertova of the Czech Republic came in third at 189.56 seconds.
