GB CANOEING NEWS FLASH
23rd August 2008
Double Olympic medal success for GB’s Tim Brabants with Bronze in the 500m
After winning canoeing’s first ever Gold medal in the Men’s K1 (kayak single) 1000m yesterday, Great Britain’s Tim Brabants has medalled again, this time winning Bronze in the shorter 500m flat water racing distance.
The 31 year old Doctor, had an excellent start and was up front with the favourite Canada’s Adam Van Koeverden, the defending Olympic Champion and World Champion, but it was Australia’s Ken Wallace who just got to the line first (1.37.252), followed by Van Koeverden and then GB’s Tim Brabants (1.37.671). The three of them got out of the start like rockets in the near perfect conditions in Shunyi, it was a very very close race with all athletes finishing within a second of each other.
It is only relatively recently that Tim has competed in the Men’s K1 (kayak single) 500m, the 1000m event has been his favourite, but Tim has excelled in this shorter distance too, winning Gold in the Men’s K1 500m European Championships last year.
Yesterday, Tim added Olympic Champion to his World and European Championship titles in the Men’s K1 (kayak single) 1000m event. Tim again had the Silver Olympic medallist Adam Van Koeverden to content with, who was on his shoulder until the 500m mark. The last 500m was nail biting but Brabants wanted the medal badly and would not let it out of his sight, dropping Van Koeverden. Tim, Bronze Olympic medallist from Surrey maintained a lead all the way to the finish, making it look easy and won the Gold medal in a time of 3.26.323, followed by the defending Olympic Champion Eirik Veraas Larsen (3.27.485) and Van Koeverden finished 7th.
Tim has had an outstanding year, winning Gold in the European Championships, Gold in the World Championships last year and picking up World Cup medals along the way. At the Athens Games in 2004, he recorded the world’s fastest time in his qualification events and finished 5th in the final. Since that disappointment he has set his sights very firmly on medalling in Beijing.
Selected results from today’s racing
Men’s K1 500m
1. Australia Ken Wallace 1.37.252
2. Canada Adam Van Koeverden 1.37.630
3. Great Britain Tim Brabants 1.37.671
Selected results from yesterdays racing
Men’s K1 1000m
1. Great Britain Tim Brabants 3.26.323
2. Norway Eirik Veraas Larsen 3.27.343
3. Australia Ken Wallace 3.27.485
Athlete websites
Tim Brabants www.timbrabants.com
Ends
For further information please contact:
Matchtight’s Caroline Searl 01225 443998 or the British Canoe Union’s Chloe Nelson – Lawrie on 0845 370 9511 / 07812523409. Unless otherwise stated, all images are the property of the British Canoe Union (BCU) and any copying or reproduction of them should be agreed in advance.
Notes to the editors:
GB Canoeing is the World Class Performance division of the British Canoe Union (BCU). It currently supports 20 UK athletes in their training and competition with the aim to win medals in significant international competitions now and within the next 4 years, particularly at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In the Athens Olympics, Canoeing was one of Team GB’s most successful sports with medals for Ian Wynne (Bronze), Helen Reeves (Bronze) and Campbell Walsh (Silver). In 2008 GB Canoeing’s canoe slalom athlete David Florence won Silver in the Beijing Olympics.
The BCU was set up in 1936 to send a team to the Berlin Olympics and is the lead body for canoeing and kayaking in the UK. In 2000 the BCU federalised to become the umbrella organisation for the Home Nation Associations in Scotland (SCA), Wales (WCA) and Northern Ireland (CANI). In England, Canoe England was set up, on a par with the other National Associations, as a division of the BCU, to support the development of canoeing in England.
The BCU is responsible for leading and setting the overall framework for the National Associations; including representing canoeing interests through coaching, competition and campaigning for increased access to Britain’s waterways for paddlers. Today the BCU has a membership of over 60,000, including over 450 affiliated clubs and 145 approved centres. According to the RYA Watersports Survey there are an estimated 1.5 million people take to the water in a canoe each year. The vast majority do so under a watchful eye of one of the 11,000 BCU Qualified coaches or as part of an affiliated organisation. For more information visit: www.bcu.org.uk.