Athens - South African canoeist Alan van Coller slipped out of the Olympic men's 1 000m K1 competition on Wednesday, but is still confident that his plans for the 500m men's K1, his key event, are on track.
Van Coller finished fifth in a highly competitive semi-final, run in difficult windy conditions at the regatta course at Schinias.
The semi-final was won in impressive fashion by Australian Nathan Baggaley, with German Bjoern Goldschmidt and Israel's Roei Yellin securing the other two berths in the final on Friday.
Also out of the final went Polish star Adam Seroczynski, who was locked in a fierce tussle with Yellin and Van Coller for the third, and the last, berth into the final.
Van Coller was left to play catch up after a very fast start from Baggeley, who was more than a second and a half clear of the field after the first 250m.
Van Coller moved up to fourth going through the 500m mark, locked together with Goldschmidt and closing in on Seroczynski, who was in second.
However, nobody saw Israel's Roei Yellin coming. After a bad start, he clawed his way through the field, and with a spectacular end-sprint, he burst ahead of the three boats challenging for third, and snatched the last berth in the final.
"The race went fine," said Van Coller. "There was one key patch when it didn't feel that good, but overall I am happy," he said, after clocking 3 minutes 32 with a strong wind at his back.
His third 250m was slower that the other challengers for the top three positions, and he lost two crucial seconds that cost him dearly, as he was off the pace when it came to the end-sprint.
Van Coller set out to use the 1000m event as preparation for the 500m K1 race, which has been the key focus of his career. "I am pleased with what I got out of the 1000m, as it was never my main focus. Now I have to get it right in the 500m semi-final on Thursday," he said.
Van Coller has landed up with a heavily loaded semi-final, easily the toughest of the three. He will have to secure one of the top three places to go through to the final.
In the semi-final he will be up against Aussie superstar Nathan Baggaley, Petar Merkov of Bulkgaria and Adam van Koeverden of Canada. - www.nocsa.co.za
