Adam van Koeverden kayaks to 4th Summer Olympics berth in Rio
34-year-old won 1,000-metre Pan Am continental qualifier
Kayaker Adam van Koeverden won his sudden-death, 1,000-metre Pan Am continential qualifier Friday at Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., to qualify for the Rio Olympics in August, the Canadian's fourth Summer Games berth.
Beyond stoked to say that I won my race this morning, thus qualifying for this Summer's Olympic Games.
—@vankayakThank you to everyone who has helped me get here... But please don't go anywhere, I still need you ❤️❤️❤️.
—@vankayakThe 34-year-old native of Oakville, Ont., who crossed the finish line in three minutes 30.66 seconds, has come a long way since last summer when van Koeverden wasn't his dominant self at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, finishing third in the men's K1 1,000.
"The route to get to this point, to get qualified, has been longer than it's ever been for me," van Koeverden said. "It was a hard and stressful morning. I did what I had to do and there are a lot of improvements that have to happen in the next few months for me to be satisfied with a good Olympic performance."
Prior to the race, he told Postmedia that he had been dealing with some health issues, but wouldn't elaborate. "It wasn't an injury, but I dealt with a lot last summer."
The two-time world champion has won four Olympic medals, including gold at the 2004 Games in Athens and silver at the 2012 London Summer Games.
Rounding out the podium Friday was Agustin Vernice of Argentina (3:32.47) and Vagner Junior Souta of Brazil (3:33.35).
Mark Oldershaw, of Burlington, Ont., captured the men's C1 1,000 to qualify another quota spot for Canada in Rio.
Oldershaw is still looking to qualify for the Summer Games. Canada can only send one athlete to compete in the men's C1 competition. Ottawa's Ben Tardioli is due to race in the men's C1 200 on Saturday morning and if he wins the continental qualifier, the decision of which event to prioritize will be based on World Cup performances.
In women's competition, Genevieve Orton of Lake Echo, N.S., and Kathleen Fraser of Oakville, Ont., won the women's K2 500 to earn the Canadians two more athlete quota spots in the event at the Olympics. The crew to fill those spots will be determined at National Team Trials 2 in Montreal from June 24-26.
Lissa Bissonnette of Sherbrooke, Que., took gold in the senior women's K1 500 event. Canada had already qualified an Olympic quota spot in that event at last year's world championships.