SYDNEY (AP) -- Despite a stiff wind that ruined his rhythm and threw him into several penalties, three-time Olympian Davey Hearn snagged the last spot in the solo canoe slalom finals during qualifying Sunday.
Hearn didn't make it by much as just .86 points kept him from being among the four competitors not advancing to the finals Monday.
"I've got a day of Olympic racing under my belt over 40 and it still feels OK," said the 41-year-old Hearn. "Conditions and events conspired against me, but I'm still in the game tomorrow."
Rebecca Giddens also will be racing for a medal after finishing sixth among the 15 women who advanced to the solo kayak finals on Monday.
Hearn didn't have to deal with qualifying in Atlanta, where he finished ninth, or Barcelona, where he was 11th. And with 12 of the 16 entries moving on Sunday, he expected to be among them.
That began to change early in his second run, the breezy one.
Hearn, of Bethesda, Md., clipped the fourth gate for a 2-point penalty, then took another one when the bow of his canoe hit the 10th gate. He also touched the 20th gate.
"Gate 4 kind of blew into me," Hearn said. "As soon as that happened, I knew there were a couple of guys breathing down my neck and they were going to have a shot at me."
He felt a lot better after crossing the finish line and the scoreboard showed three guys already behind him and 10 still left to run, including one who had taken 54 penalty points in his first run.
Hearn said he wasn't sure how much the wind bothered the rest of the pack, but it sure affected him.
"When it's windy like this I have more trouble feeling the water," he said. "There's another force pushing on me. It's like trying to listen to someone talk in the middle of a rock concert."
Hearn is from a slalom family. His wife is a coach on the U.S. team, his sister is on it and his brother used to be. To bring home their first Olympic medal, he'll have to clean up his mistakes.
Michal Martikan of Slovakia is favored to win a second straight gold after posting the best score in qualifying. That nation could get a sweep Monday: Elena Kaliska was first in the solo kayak, .17 ahead of Atlanta gold medalist Stepanka Hilgertova.
Giddens, of Atlanta, was nearly 12 points back, six of them on penalties.
"It's much better to have a run knowing that you had mistakes and still be in the place I was," said Giddens, who is fighting back from reconstructive surgery on her right shoulder two years ago. "I know I can do better."
More than 12,500 people crammed the stands and grassy slopes in the 8,000-seat stadium to watch an event that almost didn't make it into the games. Australia then spent $6.5 million building the venue, which was hailed by competitors.
They were less thrilled with the design of the layout of the finals course, forcing it to be redrawn for the first time in Olympic history. The main problem was that it had four straight right-side upstream turns, then four left turns.
"It's too bad they didn't stick with it," Hearn said. "There's plenty of other times when they had stuff more imbalanced than that and they said the heck with it."
Canoe-Kayak Results
SYDNEY (AP) -- Results Sunday from the canoe-kayak event at the Summer Olympics:
Men
Canoeing Slalom
C-1
Qualification
1, Michal Martikan, Slovakia, (128.69, 0, 128.69; 134.00, 0, 134.00), 262.69.
2, Tony Estanguet, France, (130.39, 2, 132.39; 131.02, 0, 131.02), 263.41.
3, Krzysztof Bieryt, Poland, (132.85, 0, 132.85; 132.19, 0, 132.19), 265.04.
4, Juraj Mincik, Slovakia, (131.88, 2, 133.88; 131.28, 2, 133.28), 267.16.
5, Robin Bell, Australia, (132.76, 2, 134.76; 129.98, 4, 133.98), 268.74.
6, Emmanuel Brugvin, France, (132.74, 0, 132.74; 132.55, 4, 136.55), 269.29.
7, Stefan Pfannmoeller, Germany, (130.02, 2, 132.02; 132.59, 6, 138.59), 270.61.
8, Soeren Kaufmann, Germany, (134.36, 0, 134.36; 135.54, 2, 137.54), 271.90.
9, Simeon Hocevar, Slovenia, (136.64, 0, 136.64; 135.61, 2, 137.61), 274.25.
10, Stuart McIntosh, Britain, (136.55, 0, 136.55; 133.84, 4, 137.84), 274.39.
11, Danko Herceg, Croatia, (136.59, 2, 138.59; 133.23, 4, 137.23), 275.82.
12, David Hearn, Bethesda, Md., (135.53, 0, 135.53; 139.36, 6, 145.36), 280.89.
13, Tomas Indruch, Czech Republic, (136.29, 4, 140.29; 139.46, 2, 141.46), 281.75.
14, Cassio Petry, Brazil, (143.63, 2, 145.63; 144.09, 4, 148.09), 293.72.
15, James Cartwright-Garland, Canada, (144.64, 4, 148.64; 147.02, 2, 149.02), 297.66.
16, Jon Erguin, Spain, (138.14, 54, 192.14; 170.48, 0, 170.48), 362.62.
Women
K-1
Qualification
1, Elena Kaliska, Slovakia, (141.58, 0, 141.58; 139.32, 4, 143.32), 284.90.
2, Stepanka Hilgertova, Czech Republic, (143.56, 0, 143.56; 141.51, 0, 141.51), 285.07.
3, Irena Pavelkova, Czech Republic, (144.47, 2, 146.47; 142.07, 2, 144.07), 290.54.
4, Brigitte Guibal, France, (145.67, 2, 147.67; 140.95, 4, 144.95), 292.62.
5, Gabriela Stacherova, Slovakia, (148.55, 0, 148.55; 146.38, 0, 146.38), 294.93.
6, Rebecca Giddens, United States, (144.48, 4, 148.48; 146.13, 2, 148.13), 296.61.
7, Mandy Planert, Germany, (147.96, 4, 151.96; 144.43, 2, 146.43), 298.39.
8, Susanne Hirt, Germany, (151.29, 4, 155.29; 141.65, 2, 143.65), 298.94.
9, Sandra Friedli, Switzerland, (148.89, 2, 150.89; 145.12, 10, 155.12), 306.01.
10, Violetta Oblinger-Peters, Austria, (147.71, 2, 149.71; 154.77, 4, 158.77), 308.48.
11, Anne-Lise Bardet, France, (148.90, 6, 154.90; 152.18, 2, 154.18), 309.08.
12, Maria Eizmendi, Spain, (154.02, 6, 160.02; 149.15, 2, 151.15), 311.17.
13, Laura Blakeman, Britain, (151.47, 4, 155.47; 148.00, 8, 156.00), 311.47.
14, Danielle Woodward, Australia, (153.49, 8, 161.49; 148.31, 4, 152.31), 313.80.
15, Margaret Langford, Canada, (157.55, 6, 163.55; 146.96, 4, 150.96), 314.51.
16, Maria Cristina Giai Pron, Italy, (153.34, 4, 157.34; 158.55, 6, 164.55), 321.89.
17, Nada Mali, Slovenia, (157.26, 6, 163.26; 156.19, 6, 162.19), 325.45.
18, Eadaoin Ni Challarain, Ireland, (159.93, 8, 167.93; 157.56, 6, 163.56), 331.49.
19, Beata Grzesik, Poland, (152.80, 56, 208.80; 145.58, 2, 147.58), 356.38.
20, Florence Ferreira Fernandes, Portugal, (171.65, 56, 227.65; 160.10, 2, 162.10), 389.75.
