OCOEE, Tennessee (CP) -- World champion David Ford of Edmonton, one of Canada's top hopes for an Olympic gold medal this fall, placed fourth in men's kayak Sunday at the second stop on the whitewater slalom World Cup circuit.

  Eric Giddens of the U.S., took the gold medal with 231.69 points, Jean-Yves Cheutin of France was second at 233.13 , Scott Parsons of the U.S., was third at 234.57 while Ford followed at 240.60.

  Ford, 33, dominated Saturday's preliminary round winning by more than five points. However the course was altered for the final with gates moved to different areas of the course.

  "This year I'm focusing so much on the Olympics that I'm not really race fit yet," said Ford, headed to his third Games. "I put so much into the preliminaries that I came out flat for the final. It's disappointing but still to finish fourth on a bad day is a positive indicator this early in the season."

  Mike Holroyd of Edmonton was 17th. In men's canoe doubles, Philippe Quemerais and Yann Le Pennec of France were the winners followed by Scott McCleskey and David Hepp of the U.S., in second and brothers Christophe and Pierre Luquet of France third.

  Benoit Gauthier of Mont-Rolland, Que., and Tyler Lawlor of Ottawa, in their first season together, finished a season-best sixth.

  Gauthier qualified for the Olympics with long-time partner Francois Letourneau of Mont-Rolland last year, however Letourneau retired suddenly this past winter.

  In men's canoe singles, Olympic bronze medallist Patrice Estanguet of France was first, Joe Jacobi of the U.S., was second and Herve Delamarre of France third. Stig Larsson of Ottawa posted a career-high seventh and Jamie Cartwright of Vancouver, third in the preliminaries, was also a best-ever ninth.

  In women's kayak, Rebbeca Giddens of the U.S., Eric's wife, won the gold followed by Susanne Hirt of Germany and Anne-Lise Bardet of France. Margaret Langford of Lions Bay, B.C., also headed to her third Olympics, won the preliminary round Saturday but placed 12th in the final.

  Ford says it's been harder this season to focus on the World Cup because of the Olympic Games.

  "These are usually the biggest races going," said Ford, who'll return to his training base near Chilliwack for a couple of weeks. "But now you get to a World Cup you're not in fighting form and you go up against guys who won' t be at the Olympics and they are trying to make a statement. But I'm glad the Olympics are in September because I tend to do better at the end of the season anyway."

  The next stop on the World Cup is July 1-2 in France however Canada's Olympic team members (Ford, Langford, Cartwight, Lawlor and Gauthier) will compete next at the following World Cup July 8-9 in Seu d'Urgell, Spain.