Canoeing: Fouhy oozes confidence

By EUGENE BINGHAM in Athens

New Zealand gold medal hopeful Ben Fouhy remains confident of his chances even as an outside contender emerged from the K1 1000m pack on the Olympic canoeing course last night.

Britain's Tim Brabants, whom Fouhy has been training with, set a new world best of 3m 24.412s in the fast conditions, surprising the four contenders who have been the top paddlers this year.

Fouhy avoided the semifinals by easily winning his heat and qualifying straight for the final in his individual event. About 90 minutes later, Fouhy and Steven Ferguson paddled into the final in the K2 1000m too, cruising for second in their heat.

It was an ominous return to Olympic canoeing for New Zealand, keeping alive the hopes of a return to the glory days when Ferguson's father, Ian, led a Kiwi assault on Olympic gold.

Fouhy was confident about how his K1 event had gone and was happy to have finished with a time of 3m 26.064s.

"I was working hard but felt I had a little bit left and to have a time like that it's very satisfying," said the 25-year-old.

He was glad to finally get out and race after such a long build-up.

"You do so much training your mind starts playing tricks on you. You need to stop thinking about it. Now I've got tangible things to work on."

To repeat his victory in last year's world championships, he will have to overcome the three other paddlers who, together with Fouhy, have proved the powerhouses of the K1 1000m - Norway's Eirik Veraas Larsen, Canada's Adam van Koeverden, and Australia's Nathan Baggaley.

The time by Brabants, bronze medallist in Sydney four years ago, puts him in serious contention too.

Ian Ferguson, now the team's coach, said Fouhy had been racing and training faster than Brabants this year so he was boosted by his rival's fast time.

Baggaley said he still believed the Olympic spoils would be shared between the four paddlers who have set the benchmark this year.

"It's always tough to have four guys going for three medals - someone has to miss out and I really hope it's not me," said Baggaley, who came second to Larsen in the toughest heat of the day.

He predicted the world record would be under threat in Friday's final.

Van Koeverden said he was still struggling to understand how Fouhy had emerged from nowhere to be so dominant last year.

Asked how he thought Fouhy had done it, van Koeverden said: "I don't know, I don't know. He has a good coach."

Meanwhile the K2 pair of Fouhy and Ferguson looked comfortable taking second behind the world champion Swedish crew.


Steven Ferguson believed it was possible for them to win gold.

THE FINALS

K1 1000m (Ben Fouhy) 5.30pm Friday

K2 1000m (Fouhy, Steven Ferguson) 6.35pm Friday