New Zealand pair's Olympic canoeing flounder leaves fans puzzled

The performance of the New Zealand kayaker duo Max Brown and Grant Clancy has gone down in Olympic history as one of the worst. Their 457-metre race was so weak that television cameras didn't capture them following the rest of the pack. Why? The reason lies very "deep."

"Why didn't the New Zealand crew move when the gun went off?" This question arose immediately after the start of the men's C2 457-metre kayak race at Vaire-sur-Marne track in Paris. The kayak duo mentioned had evident problems getting started and competing, "falling behind" in skills compared to the rest of the pack.

Brown and Clancy finished the race over 46 seconds—or about 201 metres—behind the winners of the 457-metre race, the Russians Alexey Korovashkov and Zakhar Petrov. They recorded a time of 2:22.09, which would have placed them last in the women's competition. Despite this, they managed to start in the quarterfinals but, to put it mildly, didn't shine there either.

Although their kayaking skills were clearly behind the rest of the pack, fans strongly supported them with cheers and applause. The question remains: why did such a performance occur at the Olympics?

According to New Zealand media reports, local kayaking is very underdeveloped. The New Zealand Kayaking Association (Canoe Racing NZ - CRNZ) receives funding of 2 million pounds annually to develop this discipline. Although it has progressed, such a performance at the Olympics was disappointing.

So, how did Max Brown and Grant Clancy end up in Paris? The reason lies in the qualification rules for the Oceania Olympics. Initially, Canoe Racing NZ prioritised qualifying for the quad race, but during last year's world championships, their team did not secure a spot in the French capital.

CRNZ hoped to secure two Olympic spots in C2, which would allow for the selection of four athletes, but at the Oceania championships in Sydney, they only obtained one, so they had to implement "plan C."

The matter became so significant that it reached the New Zealand Sports Tribunal. CRNZ rejected the spot in the K1 1,006-metre race, won by Quaid Thompson, wanting to focus entirely on the K4 race. For this to happen, it was decided that Max Brown and Grant Clancy would compete in the duo race.

The kayakers had only three months to prepare to compete against the best athletes in the world. They twice completed races without any incidents, but Clancy, who steered the kayak from the back, described starting in C2 as "a completely different sport."

When I got out of the boat at the end of that last race, I couldn't feel my right leg and I actually fell over, it was so numb. That's the hardest part, it's so one-sided, whereas kayak is really symmetrical. So it's been really tough on the legs, my poor booty - I've been working really hard in the gym to make it strong enough—rnz.co.nz quotes his words.

The New Zealand kayakers will participate in one more 457-metre race, which will take place on Thursday, 8 August, at 10:00 GMT.