Van Koeverden fades to 8th

The star of the Canadian Olympic team suffered a crushing defeat on Friday.

Adam van Koeverden finished eighth in a field of nine paddlers in the K-1 1000, a race in which he was touted to win a medal.

Briton Tim Brabants captured gold in a time of three minutes and 26.323 seconds. Norwegian Eirik Larsen took the silver (3:27.342) and Australia's Ken Wallace claimed the bronze (3:27.485).

"I just didn't have it," a distraught van Koeverden told CBC Sports after the race. "It's a hell of a time not to have it. It's the worst 1000 metres I have put together in years."

He paused for a moment then looked directly at the CBC television camera recording the interview. "I'm sorry," he said, addressing viewers. "I don't know what to say, I'm pretty speechless right now."

Van Koeverden's time of 3:31.793 in the final was more than two seconds slower than his time in Monday's heat.

"I planned on sitting behind Tim [Brabants], just off his shoulder and using his pace and then popping him at the end. He had a very strong pickup at the 500 and I countered it, went with him a little while and then people just started blowing past me and I couldn't handle it."

Van Koeverden was one of the strongest medal contenders heading into this race. He won two gold medals and one bronze in three World Cup races this season.

He also claimed the bronze in the 1000 at the 2004 Athens Games as well as three silvers (2003, 2005, 2007) at world championships.

Van Koeverden won both the 1,000 and 500 heats in Beijing, setting a world record in the 500 in the process.

K-4 1000 (men)

The Canadian crew (3:01.630) finished ninth, and last, in the race. Though the boat was in the pack in the first quarter of the race, it started to fade soon after that and was never in contention. The crew consists of Brady Reardon, Angus Mortimer, Chris Pellini and Rhys Hill. Belarus (2:55.714) won the race followed by Slovakia (2:56.593) and Germany (2:56.676).