KEY POINTS:
A transtasman stoush is brewing over Olympic kayaking spots as fuming Australian officials plan to appeal against the decision to rerun the Oceania selection races.
New Zealand officials felt vindicated yesterday after the Oceania championships jury upheld their appeal, thereby handing K1 500m paddlers Troy Burbridge and Erin Taylor an Olympic lifeline.
The three-person jury, headed by the Japanese delegate from the International Canoe Federation (ICF), last night overturned the original decision by race officials to dismiss New Zealand's protest against unfair conditions last Wednesday.
Burbridge and Taylor both complained of being badly hampered by weeds on their boat rudders when comfortably beaten by Australians Tony Schumacher and Alana Nicholls in their respective Oceania selection races in Sydney.
The jury ruled the races be rerun by May 18 at the latest.
Australian high performance director Richard Fox labelled the decision bizarre and fired off a please explain email to the ICF.
"We're frustrated by the process and disappointed by the way it was managed," said Fox, adding there was a strong possibility they would appeal against the decision.
"They made their decision at 6pm and the competition's over now.
"There's great uncertainty about the way forward from here. We're writing to the ICF, and whether that constitutes an appeal will depend on their clarification."
New Zealand's protest asked for the races to be rescheduled as soon as possible after the Sydney International Regatta Centre was cleared of weeds.
New Zealand manager Grant Restall described the jury's decision as "a bit of a relief" as the team headed home.
- NZPA
