Canoeing: Hughes accepts no blame for NZ result

1.00pm

Owen Hughes will not accept an ounce of blame for influencing the New Zealand kayakers' results at the Olympic Games in Athens.

K1 1000m silver medallist Ben Fouhy last week said he and Steven Ferguson had received "less than complimentary" text messages from the Queensland-based Palmerston North kayaker and that they disrupted their preparation.

Both refused to reveal the content of the alleged messages although one report referred to them as "malicious".

Hughes said there was only one message and he sent it to about 30 people.

It went out two to three minutes after Ferguson had finished last after not trying in his K1 500m semifinal last Tuesday.

Hughes said the wording of the message was: "That is a ... disgrace to New Zealand kayaking."

"I have had no contact with them apart from that," he said.

"They're trying to make out I sent a few messages. There was only one, I can guarantee you that."

Ferguson was under instructions of his coach and father Ian Ferguson not to try, so he did not aggravate a back injury and affect the performance of himself and Fouhy in the K2 1000m final, in which they finished eighth.

Hughes, irate after Ferguson's go-slow and because New Zealand had not chosen to send a third paddler to Athens, confirmed he sent the message to family, friends, people in the paddling industry and to Fouhy, Steven Ferguson and Ian Ferguson.

"If that's going to throw them off their game, they have a whole bunch to learn," Hughes said.

"I'm not for a second going to take any responsibility for their shithouse performance in the K2."

Hughes said the New Zealand paddlers should have taken a leaf out of the book of the Australian track cyclists.

"They had people removed from their team before the Olympics and still had their most successful Olympics ever."

He said the support he had had since he went public had been "pretty huge".

"I've even had emails from people I don't even know."

Hughes knows his international paddling days are over. Now he just hopes New Zealand kayaking gets its house in order.

Ian Ferguson was also reported on Saturday as suggesting Hughes had an anger management problem.

"That's certainly news to me. As a whole, Ferg and I don't have any issues. He's just looking for a way to get back."

While Ian Ferguson said Hughes wasn't ranked in the world's top 30 in the K1 500, Hughes wondered if that meant Ian Ferguson was putting his son down even further.

"Because Steve can't beat me."

- NZPA