The quiet man of canoeing, Alan van Coller, did the minimum necessary to progress through in the first heat of Monday morning’s Olympic 1 000m K1 canoe event.
With seven from the initial line-up of nine going through to the semifinal, Van Coller adopted safe but energy-saving tactics.
A conservative start saw the Johannesburg-based research ecologist in sixth place at both 250m and 500m. A burst of power over the next 250m, the second-fastest of all competitors, pushed him through to third, after which he was able to cruise to the line for a sixth-place finish and direct progression to Wednesday morning’s semifinal.
Three canoeists will qualify from each semifinal to the final.
Sandwiched between events, Van Coller has the heats of the 500m event on Tuesday. If anything, this shorter sprint work will add to his 1 000m preparations as the faster cadence will carry over into the 1 000m.
Men’s hockey team disappoint
A disappointing performance by the South African men’s hockey team saw them go down 4-1 to New Zealand in their final pool B match.
There had been high hopes that the South Africans could outscore the Silver Ferns but a 14th-minute shot on goal by Kosoof Dave put New Zealand ahead. Steven Evans missed an equalising shot in the 24th minute, but Emile Smith made no mistake in the 27th minute, drawing the score at half-time.
Three penalty corners in the first two minutes of the second half still left South Africa wanting but Hayden Shaw made no mistake for the New Zealanders.
He repeated the feat in the 45th minute before being dismissed with a yellow card one minute later. The score remained 3-1, with South Africa having many shots, but not finishing, until the dying minute when Phillip Burrows drove the final goal to add insult to injury.
”I’m very disappointed that we lost. I believe that we could have beaten New Zealand, but we didn’t play well enough to succeed,” said South African forward Smith.
If Argentina beat India in Monday night’s match, South Africa will drop to bottom of the six-nation pool table.
First Olympic walker does well
The 21-year-old Nicolene Cronje became South Africa’s first Olympic women walker in Monday’s 20km walk. The Gauteng-based student was up against the world’s best in hot, windy conditions and finished a credible 47th in one hour, 42 minutes and 32 seconds behind Greece’s Athanasia Tsoumeleka who came home in 1:29,12.
After the anticipated fast start of any such championships, the experienced Cronje kept good pace, slowing as the wind and heat took its toll.
Cronje was the second-youngest in the field and is already ranked in the top 20 in the world over the shorter 3 000m distance.
”I am not happy with my time but the wind, humidity and heat just made things unpredictable.
”It was more than I expected. I knew the race would be hard and I knew it would be tiring because of the weather. But there are no words to describe it what it feels like to be in an Olympic race.
”It’s just unbelievable,” said Cronje.
Monday’s race was never about medal hopes, but an investment for the future.
”I think my coach and I will learn more from just watching the video and making some small adjustments and then we will continue working for the next Olympics.
”The first goal is to stay injury free and bring my times down to get into the top 20 in the world.”
Medal hopes on Monday
Three of South Africa’s medal hopes go in Monday night’s 400m hurdle heats. The young Ockert Cilliers and Sydney bronze medallist Llewellyn Herbert are ranked third and fourth in the world this season with Alwyn Myburgh at 10th.
Herbert had a slow start to his season but goes into his second heat with both the fastest personal best and fastest season’s best, so he should have a smooth ride into the top four, which will take him through to a three-race semifinal.
Myburgh has the toughest heat, with Felix Snachez and Al Somaily inside him in lanes one and two. On paper, Naman Keita is Cilliers’s danger man but with the Frenchman one lane outside, he should be able to keep a close eye on what’s going on. — Sapa
Special Report: Olympics 2004