Boilard blasts to first in heat

By CHRIS STEVENSON -- SLAM! Sports
PENRITH LAKES, Australia -- It wasn't a final. There was no podium to climb, no anthems to be heard, no flags to be raised.

But for canoeist Maxime Boilard of Lac-Beauport, Que., winning the semifinal of the men's C-1 500m Friday and crossing a finish line first at the Olympics will pay its own dividends.

Boilard advances to the final Sunday, helping the Canadian canoeists and kayakers to what is shaping up as one of their best Olympic Games ever.

Boilard became the sixth Canadian boat to qualify for the finals in both disciplines Saturday and Sunday.

"I'm just excited to be racing in the final," said Boilard. "I know the names of all the guys in the last five Olympics who have made it to the final. You become someone if you make it to final in Olympic canoeing and I'm now part of those guys.

"Before the race, Plan A was to make it to the final and if I did, I'd be really, really happy. It's such a strong field. Any of the nine guys could have (won the semi) and I'm glad I'm the guy who took it."

"This is going to be very important for him mentally," said Frederic Jobin, the coach of the 22-year-old Olympic rookie.

"It's not just important for Sunday, but for his career. To cross a finish line first at the Olympics, whether it's a heat or a semifinal is going to do a lot of good for his confidence.

"That was a strong field. There were seven medalists there from the world championships or Olympics. To beat those guys means something."

Boilard got off to a slow start, but by the halfway point of the race had moved into the lead. He held it until the end, holding off Bulgaria's Nikolay Bouhalov and the Ukraine's Mykhalo Slivinskyy.

Those three advanced to the final. Boilard clocked one minute, 52.071 seconds to 1:52.371 for Bouhalov and 1:52.461 for Slivinskyy.

"I could have had a better start," said Boilard. "In my heat, I went hard at the beginning and I had nothing at the end. This time I wanted to just stay with the guys and save something for the end and make sure I made it to the final.

"I could see the guys on both sides of me and it was just perfect. With 150 metres to go, I could see I was in the lead and I got a little too excited and started to slow down. I said to myself, 'why are you doing this?' I told myself to stay calm and keep going."

Boilard showed his strength in the race. He might not be able to achieve the same top speed as some of the other boats, but he is capable of sustaining his top speed longer than most.

That Boilard was in a position to win the semifinal is an interesting story in itself. He was battling veteran Olympian Steve Giles for the berths at the Olympic trials.

In the first round of their best 2-out-3 competition, Boilard won both the C-1 500m and C-1 1000m events.

But before the second round occurred about a month later, Boilard injured his shoulder and could not compete. Giles won both.

Now tied, Boilard offered a deal to Giles. The only reason Giles was in the competition was because of Boilard's injury.

Could they not split the third and final races and both go to the Olympics?

Giles agreed, allowing Boilard to win the 500m, and now both are here.

"It's not mission accomplished yet," said Jobin. "But to be in the final in his first Olympics is great for his future."

Results
SYDNEY (AP) -- Results Friday from the canoe-kayak event at the Summer Olympics (Q-qualified for final):
Flat Water
Men
C-1 500
Semifinal
1, Maxime Boilard, Canada, 1:52.07 (Q).
2, Nikolay Bouhalov, Bulgaria, 1:52.37 (Q).
3, Mykhaylo Slivinskyy, Ukraine, 1:52.46 (Q).
4, Florin Huidu, Romania, 1:53.27.
5, Christian Frederiksen, Norway, 1:53.66.
6, Kaisar Nurmaganbetov, Kazakstan, 1:54.46.
7, Jose Manuel Crespo, Spain, 1:54.76.
8, Aleksandr Maseikov, Belarus, 1:55.03.
9, Eric le Leuch, France, 1:56.90.
K-1 500
SemifinalS
1, Akos Vereckei, Hungary, 1:39.57 (Q).
2, Knut Holmann, Norway, 1:39.96 (Q).
3, Michael Kolganov, Israel, 1:40.42 (Q).
4, Geza Magyar, Romania, 1:41.48.
5, Pavel Hottmar, Czech Republic, 1:41.92.
6, Antonio Scaduto, Italy, 1:43.43.
7, Mihai Apostol, Canada, 1:43.44.
8, Stein Jorgensen, San Diego, 1:44.18.
9, Hain Helde, Estonia, 1:45.91.
Heat 2
1, Petar Merkov, Bulgaria, 1:40.00 (Q).
2, Alvydas Duonela, Lithuania, 1:40.36 (Q).
3, Alan van Coller, South Africa, 1:40.65 (Q).
4, Nathan Baggaley, Australia, 1:40.88.
5, Kimmo Latvamaki, Finland, 1:41.64.
6, Robert Erban, Slovakia, 1:42.30.
7, Vladimir Grushikhin, Armenia, 1:42.62.
8, Ognjen Filipovic, Yugoslavia, 1:43.43.
9, Nam Sung-Ho, South Korea, 1:46.00.
Heat 3
1, Lutz Liwowski, Germany, 1:40.58 (Q).
2, Jovino Gonzalez, Spain, 1:41.16 (Q).
3, Grzegorz Kotowicz, Poland, 1:41.19 (Q).
4, Ian Wynne, Britain, 1:41.48.
5, Anatoli Tichtchenko, Russia, 1:42.54.
6, Javier Andres Correa, Argentina, 1:42.76.
7, Anders Svensson, Sweden, 1:43.07.
8, Anton Ryahov, Uzbekistan, 1:43.29.
9, Adrian Hermann Bachmann, Switzerland, 1:45.86.
K-2 500
Semifinals
Heat 1
1, Australia (Andrew Trim; Daniel Collins), 1:31.47 (Q).
2, Bulgaria (Petar Sibinkitch; Milko Kazanov), 1:31.91 (Q).
3, France (Babak Amir-Tahmasseb; Philippe Aubertin), 1:32.59 (Q).
4, Denmark (Paw Madsen; Jesper Staal), 1:32.86.
5, Russia (Roman Zaroubin; Alexandre Ivanik), 1:32.96.
6, Romania (Vasile Curuzan Corneli; Nicu Romica Serban), 1:32.97.
7, Britain (Paul Darby-Dowman; Ross Sabberton), 1:33.17.
8, Israel (Rami Zur; Roei Yellin), 1:34.24.
Heat 2
1, Italy (Antonio Rossi; Beniamino Bonomi), 1:29.88 (Q).
2, Poland (Marek Twardowski; Adam Wysocki), 1:30.02 (Q).
3, United States (Peter Newton, Bellevue, Wash.; Angel Perez, Miami), 1:31.08 (Q).
4, Slovakia (Juraj Baca; Michal Riszdorfer), 1:31.48.
5, Lithuania (Egidijus Balciunas; Alvydas Duonela), 1:32.08.
6, Czech Republic (Radek Zaruba; Pavel Holubar), 1:33.05.
7, Norway (Eirik Veraas Larsen; Nils Olav Fjeldheim), 1:34.71.
8, Brazil (Sebastian Cuattrin; Carlos Campos), 1:34.86.
C-2 500
Semifinal
1, Russia (Alexandre Kovalev; Alexandre Kostoglod), 1:44.98 (Q).
2, Spain (David Mascato; Jose Alfredo Bea), 1:45.67 (Q).
3, Kazakstan (Zhomart Satubaldin; Konstantin Negodyayev), 1:45.80 (Q).
4, Czech Republic (Petr Prochazka; Jan Brecka), 1:46.01.
5, Mexico (Ramon Ferrer; Antonio Romero), 1:46.81.
6, Croatia (Nikica Ljubek; Drazen Funtak), 1:46.95.
7, Canada (Attila Buday; Tamas Buday), 1:47.52.
8, Slovakia (Jan Kubica; Mario Ostrcil), 1:48.74.
9, Britain (Andrew Train; Stephen Train), 1:49.93.
Women
K-1 500
Semifinal
1, Katrin Borchert, Australia, 1:53.07 (Q).
2, Natasa Janic, Yugoslavia, 1:55.48 (Q).
3, Uschi Profanter, Austria, 1:55.62 (Q).
4, Manuela Mucke, Germany, 1:55.79.
5, Sanda Toma, Romania, 1:56.31.
6, Kathy Colin, Kailua, Hawaii, 1:57.00.
7, Teresa Portela, Spain, 1:58.93.
8, Marcela Erbanova, Slovakia, 1:59.47.
9, Anna Hemmings, Britain, 1:59.66.
K-2 500
Semifinal
1, Australia (Anna Wood; Katrin Borchert), 1:44.68 (Q).
2, Spain (Maria Isabel Garcia Suarez; Belen Sanchez), 1:45.14 (Q).
3, Russia (Natalia Goulii; Elena Tissina), 1:46.55 (Q).
4, Ukraine (Ganna Balabanova; Nataliya Fiklisova), 1:47.37.
5, Israel (Lior Carmi; Larissa Peisakhovitch), 1:48.12.
6, United States (Tamara Jenkins, Seattle; Kathy Colin, Kailua, Hawaii), 1:48.30.
7, Belarus (Elena Bet; Svetlana Vakula), 1:49.75.