Canoeing: Ben Fouhy wins silver in K1 1000m

5.35pm - By DANIEL GILHOOLY

New Zealand's Ben Fouhy has taken the silver medal in the men's K1 1000m canoeing final at the Athens Olympics this evening.

Eirik Veraas of Norway won the gold medal and Adam van Koeverden of Canada won the bronze.

Fouhy produced a powerful second half to the race but it wasn't enough to reel in experienced Norwegian Eirik Veraas Larsen, who won by a length.

Down on Larsen by 2.63 seconds after 750m, Fouhy reduced the margin to 1.48sec by the finish, his strong finish demoting early leader Adam van Koeverden to bronze. Larsen's time was three minutes 25.897 seconds.

It was New Zealand's first Olympic kayaking medal since 1988.

A shock world champion in the K1 1000m last year, Fouhy was always expected to find it harder to repeat the dose at these Games.

Although he is renowned for a strong finish, Fouhy faced an uphill battle catching Larsen, who powered into the lead through the middle part of the course.

For Taumarunui-born Fouhy, a medal vindicates a year of dedication to the cause. He has spent the last four months in Europe preparing fastidiously for these Games.

Despite the silver, Fouhy appeared disappointed on the finish line, grimacing as he crossed the line before gasping for mouthfuls of air.

Larsen, who punched the air with delight, questioned earlier this week whether Fouhy would be good enough to repeat his world championship triumph after having burst on the scene last year.

Fouhy waved to a pocket of New Zealand supporters before the medal ceremony and waved with both arms to a smallish crowd upon the dais.

Conditions were perfect on the course where rowers Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell won gold six days earlier.

The five medals won at these Games lift New Zealand past the four at Sydney in 2000, when only one gold was claimed.

Afterward, Fouhy insisted his overriding emotion was happiness at winning silver rather than disappointment at missing the gold that many were anticipating.

"It is great. I'm not going to try and manufacture a whole lot of smiles and words for you," Fouhy said.

"I'm stoked and I'll absorb it later on and share it with my family and people who have supported me.

"I'll probably feel great tomorrow but at the moment I'm feeling good. I couldn't have raced it any better."

Fouhy said he wouldn't have changed his tactics, believing it would have been foolish to start more quickly.

"I hurt like hell but I was able to keep my head together and I raced a really smart race. I just got beaten by a better paddler," he said.

"I thought I could reel the other guys in. I knew Eirik would be tough. I wanted to stay in touch ... that was my objective. I knew he was going to be a smart man to follow.

"I wasn't going to try and outpace him because he's faster than me over the short stuff at the moment.

"Obviously it would have been everything to win but I did my best and I can live with that result.

Coach and Olympic great Ian Ferguson said Fouhy had performed outstandingly but knew gold was beyond his charge by the halfway point of the race.

"Just after the 500m Eirik started to get a bit too far away and Ben wasn't going with him, I thought he had to keep a little bit in contact with him," Ian said.

"Eirik, he's a better paddler than he was last year, he's very strong."

Results:

1. Eirik Veraas Larsen (Norway) 3:25.897

2. BEN FOUHY (NEW ZEALAND) 3:27.413

3. Adam Van Koeverden (Canada) 3:28.218

4. Nathan Baggaley (Australia) 3:28.310

5. Tim Brabants (Britain) 3:30.553

6. Roland Kokeny (Hungary) 3:31.121

7. Emanuel Silva (Portugal) 3:33.862

8. Bjoern Goldschmidt (Germany) 3:34.381

9. Roei Yellin (Israel) 3:43.485

- NZPA