Fouhy commits to kayaking, but with new coach

Olympic silver medallist Ben Fouhy has confirmed his sporting future lies in kayaking, but under a new coach.

Fouhy today said he would have much less to do with former coach and New Zealand Olympic great Ian Ferguson.

He will instead link with long-time friend and advisor Darrell Bonnetti, chasing a goal to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Since winning a silver medal at last August's Athens Olympics, Fouhy has been considering his future, with some suggestion that he would make a return to multisport competition.

However, he said he was committed to achieving his ultimate goal at an Olympics.

His decision to stick to kayaking was helped by a personal sponsorship deal and Auckland University of Technology physician Bonnetti's commitment.

Fouhy had seen New Zealand gold medallists Sarah Ulmer (cycling), and Hamish Carter (triathlon) win Olympic gold medals with help from personal coaches and believed Ferguson had to spread his resources too wide last year to be of real benefit as a coach.

He was now in a position where he could control his programme, Fouhy told Radio Sport.

"Now with financial backing I can dictate terms and plan ahead.

"To me, kayaking is about doing my absolute best, not just having a holiday.

"I've given up a lot financially but that's OK, I was prepared to do that."

Fouhy won K1 gold at the 2003 world championships and was considered a strong chance for gold at Athens but was well beaten by Norwegian Eirik Veraas Larsen, who clocked a phenomenal time.

Fouhy was loathe to say he could have beaten Larsen but believed he could have done better if the buildup had been under his own terms.

He confirmed speculation his relationship with Ferguson was not perfect before and during the Athens Games.

"Any relationship, especially at that level when you're working so closely together, there's always going to be some pretty direct conversation.

"There was a lot on the line for both of us," he said.

"We had different views on how some of the things could have been done."

H owever, he said he and Ferguson remained good friends and that the four-time gold medallist would continue to advise him on technical matters.

Fouhy said he hoped to continue in a K2 boat with Ferguson's son Steven Ferguson. The pair placed eighth in the K2 final at Athens.

"We click in a boat, we definitely are a natural pair," Fouhy said.

"I'm going to focus on my K1 for a while because I'd like to see what I can do in that but I have every intention of paddling with Steven at Beijing."

Fouhy's sponsorship deal is with office automation company Hasler NZ.

Meanwhile, Fouhy showed his ties with multisport have not been severed, lodging a team entry for this year's Coast to Coast team category with world mountain running champion Jonathan Wyatt.

- NZPA