Britannia, rule the waves! Baillie and Stott lead British one-two in canoe slalom
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The white water waves were loud. The roars which greeted Britain’s first one-two of these Games were deafening.
Lee Valley shook as it witnessed a truly breathtaking 15 minutes of C2 canoe slalom which culminated with Etienne Stott and Tim Baillie taking an unprecedented gold and David Florence and Richard Hounslow winning silver.
All four dived out of their boats and into the water to celebrate at the end, buoyed by their life-jackets and a sense of fulfilment that all the years of quiet hard work had led to Olympic glory.
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Best of British: David Florence and Richard Hounslow (left) and Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott (centre)
Golden duo: Britain's Tim Baillie (left) and Etienne Stott celebrate their final run
They were joined by their coaches
Mark Delaney and Nick Smith, two former Olympians who had missed out on
the podium themselves, but had nevertheless contributed to their sport’s
first gold medal on this biggest of stages. It seemed a fitting union
after an occasion as tense and utterly thrilling as any we will see at
London 2012.
Stott and Baillie began the final as
the slowest of six qualifiers, so went first and seized their chance to
post an imposing time for the rest to try and beat.
It was the race of their lives. They
completed a course of serpentine twists and rollercoaster undulations in
106.41 seconds (as is canoeing’s way of displaying time) and as one
pair, then another, tried and failed to go quicker, the sense grew that
this could be their day.
Holding firm: Tim Baillie and Stott battle the waves on their way to a gold medal
Making a splash: Stott jumps into the water with compatriots Florence and Hounslow
When the fourth pair, Frenchmen Gauthier Klauss and Matthieu Peche, clipped a pole late on their run, incurring a two-second penalty, the 12,000 crowd roared in the knowledge that Britain had, with Florence and Hounslow going last, at least one silver medal.
But it got so much better. Next were
the Slovakian twins Pavol and Peter Hochschorner — two Goliaths of the
canoeing world who had won the last three Olympic titles in this
discipline and never lost a final.
With Stott and Baillie watching on,
circling their canoe around the placid practice pool at the bottom, the
reigning champions finished 1.87sec slower.
A gasp, then a cheer: Britain had gold. The brothers looked grim.
Silver lining: Britain's David Florence (left) and Richard Hounslow had to settle for second
Waiting to begin his run, Florence
glanced at the scoreboard and allowed himself a smile. He and Hounslow
had both failed to make the final in their individual events, the C1 and
K1, but here was a chance for glorious redemption.
They were well ahead at the first check point, but began to fade.
As the pair neared the end all eyes
were on the clock, which way would the pendulum swing? They crossed the
line in a time 0.36sec slower than their team-mates, but there was not a
flicker of disappointment on their faces. Two sets of arms shot up at
once.
A booming primal sound came from the mouth of Stott and he rolled out of his canoe in joy, soon followed by the rest.
Silver service: Florence and Hounslow had been quickest in the semi-final but came second in the final
He and Baillie, both 33, had been
beaten here at the Olympic trials by Florence and Hounslow, and only
made it to London because their friends and rivals qualified for the
individual events too, allowing Britain an extra spot.
Oh the irony.
‘It’s weird,’ said Stott, who
together with Baillie missed out on Beijing. ‘This morning we didn’t
know what would come. It could have been a disaster and now it’s a
complete dream. Just over a year ago I had surgery on my shoulder so to
go from there to now — I just can’t get round it.
‘The Hochschorners are great champions, they are amazing athletes and they are our models.
‘They have always been our reference point in the world of canoe slalom.’
Rule Britannia! Team GB's gold and silver medal winners celebrate after the canoe slalom
Praise came for their beaten
compatriots too. For years they had been the spur to push them on to
faster times. Florence, who doubled his collection of Olympic silvers
after winning one in Beijing individually, said there was no shame in
coming second to Stott and Baillie.
Baillie added: ‘It’s just incredible.
I was really happy we made the final. To win is mad and for these two
to get second — it’s the best slalom race. The run we had I was hoping
it might be good enough for a medal, but you can never tell. It’s such a
high-quality final, all the boats are really good. In our sport it’s
hard to be consistent.’
Gutted: Olympic chamions Slovakia's Pavol (left) and Peter Hochschorner had to settle for bronze
Asked who he would thank for
assistance in winning Olympic gold, Stott pointed high and said: ‘I’ve
got a list that I can start from here, down to the floor and around my
feet a few times.
‘We’ve grafted so hard. We’ve been through the hardest times.
‘We’ve felt so miserable, we’ve done such hard work together.
‘But this is what the Olympics is all about, dreams can come true, and mad stuff happens on these crazy days.’
Never a truer word said.
VIDEO: Triumphant homecoming for Team GB's canoe medallists!
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Anyone who thinks this ain't a sport is bonkers, It's a lot harder than rowing on a nice calm lake and nobody questions rowing as a sport.
- Jon1Burd , Cardiff, 03/8/2012 13:43
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