
The Western Australian Institute of Sport canoe slalom pair of Kynan
Maley and Robin Jeffery have put down a superb run in the C2 semi-final today
to finish their Olympic campaign.
The Aussie boys were the first boat down the course, and negotiated the
rapids in a total time of 114.14 including two penalties. However shortly after
crossing the line, one of their penalties, incurred at gate 2, was converted
into a missed gate dramatically adding 50 seconds to their score.
"There are two downstream judges
and one upstream judge, 30-year-old Maley explained. "The two downstream
judges gave us two seconds, and the one upstream judge gave us 50.
The chief judge agreed with the 50 second penalty and despite the fact
that the video was inconclusive, the penalty remained.
Australian team officials protested the penalty but it was upheld.
"If it had been the difference between us making the final or not, I
would be more upset about, said Maley who together with Jeffery was confident
that they had cleared gate 2. "At the end of the day, thats our sport.
With only the top six boats going through, Maley and Jeffery did not
progress to the final, but were happy with how they had performed and thrilled
with their overall Olympic experience.
"We're really stoked with how we went," Maley said.
"We put it all on the line and just attacked the course - we
weren't defensive and it was a tough course, the whole way down. "I don't
regret what we tried to do and the effort we put in at all.
"It's been an amazing experience. The whole race - everyone has
lifted. The atmosphere here is incedible,We just wanted to buy into the whole
Olympic experience, being part of the Australian Team adn representing the
country and all the support we have got from everyone back home is just
incredible and I think we definitely rose to another level - but so did
everyone else!"
And of Rio 2016? For 24-year-old West Australian Jeffery, there's really
no question
"Im greedy! Jeffery said. "I want to go again. When I crossed the line
- I was like - I want to go again!"
"For me, I just want to experience this moment," Maley added.
"I'll start thinking about that soon."
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