Message to Kiwi canoeists was less than complimentary

By EUGENE BINGHAM

The jilted member of the New Zealand canoeing squad sent "uncomplimentary" text messages to the team in Athens as part of his campaign calling attention to his gripe about Olympic selection.

Ben Fouhy, K1 1000m silver medallist and finalist in the K2 1000m, said Owen Hughes had sent them a text message several days ago as they prepared for their races.

Asked if he had been aware of the controversy about the selection decisions, Fouhy said: "To be honest, we had some fairly average communication from home in terms of text messages and whatnot. They were less than complimentary."

Fouhy said he was a little disappointed, but felt for Hughes, who was in the pre-Olympic campaign but missed out on a place in the team.

"I feel sorry for the guy. He's a good athlete and he's an Olympian, and he's worked really, really hard and put a lot on the line, like all of us.

"It's pretty raw when it doesn't work out for you. It's a pretty emotional thing, and obviously he's feeling that things haven't worked out for him. Hopefully he's able to get things in perspective."

Hughes last night confirmed he had sent a message to about 30 people, including Fouhy and Steve Ferguson, saying Ferguson's performance in his K1 500m heat was a "disgrace to New Zealand kayaking".

"That is exactly how I feel. Nothing has changed since I sent that text message."

Hughes described Fouhy's silver effort as "fantastic" but said the K2 race "was pretty much as predicted".