Rio2016 Dream Ends for WA Slalom Pair
WAIS slalom canoe paddlers Robin Jeffery and Kynan Maley have had their qualification hopes for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games ended at the weekend’s Oceania Championships in Penrith.
The nomination in the men’s C1 event has gone to NSW athlete Ian Borrows – who produced the fastest semi-final run in competition on Saturday to win the best of three selection trial over the Western Australian London Olympic duo.
Borrows’ nomination was officially ratified by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) on Thursday with the slalom team set to be headlined by Rio medal fancy Jessica Fox, who competes in the K1 class, with Lucien Delfour earning nomination in the men’s K1.
In Friday’s men’s C1 heats, Robin Jeffery recorded a stunning run of 95.96 to set the fifth fastest time overall and keep the pressure on in the Olympic selection race.
Unfortunately, he was unable to repeat the dose in Saturday’s semi-finals, accruing two penalty gate touches to set the 17th fastest time overall, which critically, was over a second slower than that of Borrows’ effort for 12th place. Kynan Maley missed a gate on his run, which accrues a 50 second time penalty and consequently ruled him out of contention.
With none of the Australian paddlers earning qualification for the final, it concluded the selection phase, with Borrows earning a 2-1 win over Jeffery and with it, the opportunity to compete for Australia at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.