South African canoeist Alan van Coller bowed out of the Athens Olympics 500m K1 in a titanic semifinal in which he finished fourth. The 36-year-old from Bryanston, who is a hero and role model to thousands of paddlers, drove himself to his physical limits in the effort to secure a top-three finish and a place in the final.
A gutted Van Coller battled to come to terms with the result, gasping ”Man, I wanted that final so badly” as he went through boat control after the semifinal. It was clear that the effort had taken him to extremes of physical exertion.
”But I guess that’s sport,” he added, incredibly philosophically.
”In the last 100 metres I was going in overdrive. The horizon was moving in front of my eyes. There is no way I could have gone any harder,” said Van Coller afterwards.
On a day in which the blue-ribbon men’s 500m K1 semifinals produced a number of upsets, Van Coller started the third semifinal against a field loaded with stars, including current world pacesetter Adam van Koeverden of Canada, Australian world champion Nathan Baggaley, Bulgarian star Petar Merkov, Swede Anders Gustaffson and Italy’s Andrea Facchin.
Van Coller started strongly and was only 0,8 seconds behind the leader after the first 250m, in a solid third place.
”I started faster than normal, because I had to do something special against such a tough field. I was feeling great at that stage,” said Van Coller.
As he went into the last 100m, the intensity of the race reached a near frenzy as Baggaley and Van Koeverden frantically tried to outsprint each other to the line. Van Coller was clearly racing flat-out, as the field was very tightly bunched at that stage.
Nobody noticed Italian Andrea Facchin in lane seven, until be burst into the final sprint with a spectacular charge that saw him edge ahead of Van Coller by eight-10ths of a second and eliminate him from the final.
In other upsets, star Lithuanian Alvydas Duonela, Israeli ace Michael Kolganov and United States-based speedster Rami Zur were all eliminated from the final. More than half of the paddlers that made the Sydney 2000 500m K1 final were dumped for the Athens final.
”I have been going so well in the build-up to the Games,” said Van Coller. ”At this level, the smallest thing makes all the difference. Today I felt that I went well, but that my body was just not quite right. It’s a very strange thing, and impossible to predict, but one day your body feels awesome, and others it is just not that sharp.
”Right now the level is so intense, that there are at least 15 guys that can stake a claim to a place in the 500m K1 final. There are a couple of guys like Adam [van Koeverden] and Nathan [Baggaley] that have raised the global standard a few notches, and there are also a lot more paddlers racing at a very high level.”
While Van Coller may look at his paddling future in the coming weeks, it is clear that he has taken his form to levels never before reached by a South African sprinter.
”Alan is obviously disappointed right now, but he must know that he has inspired an entire generation of paddlers in South Africa and flown the flag for his country with distinction. He is an exceptional athlete and role model,” said Canoeing South Africa’s secretary general, Dave Macleod, from the course. — Sapa
Special Report: Olympics 2004