Canoe slalom paddlers Finn Butcher and Luuka Jones have progressed to the elimination phase of their kayak cross events.
Butcher was outstanding and among the best men's paddlers on Saturday at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, winning his first round race, while Jones finished second in her race and fourth-fastest.
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Butcher flew off the ramp and charged into a lead that grew throughout the race. After the disappointment of the canoe slalom semifinal days earlier, he looked strong and purposeful, .
Luuka Jones and Finn Butcher both progressed without problems into tomorrow’s elimination series of their kayak cross events.
Jones, who was fourth fastest in the opening day women’s time trial, was second in her race today, with the first two in each race progressing. The third placegetter was consigned to repechage racing.
Looking strong, Jones led early on. She had a little difficulty in the middle stages, but it didn’t really matter because Slovakian Zuzana Pankova had a nightmare, failing to get around one gate and having to go back for another try. Pankova finished a distant third.
The race was won by Spain’s Miren Lazkano and she and Jones progressed directly to the elimination series.
At the La Defense Arena pool, Erika Fairweather has closed out her Paris Olympics by finishing eighth in the women's 800m freestyle final.
In a race dominated by American Katie Ledecky, Fairweather was never on the pace, eventually finishing in 8 minutes 23.27 seconds, more than 12 seconds behind Ledecky and 10 seconds off the podium.
It was Fairweather's fourth final in Paris, after finishing fourth in the women's 400m freestyle, seventh in the women's 200m freestyle and helping the New Zealand team to eighth in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay.
New Zealand cyclists Corbin Strong and Laurence Pithie slogged away but ultimately did not feature prominently in the men's road race on Saturday.
Strong finished a creditable 27th in 6 hours 22 minutes 31 seconds and Pithie 39th in 6:26:57 273 gruelling 273 kilometres around Paris before finishing at the Eiffel Tower, with Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel taking gold.
The Kiwis gave a good account of themselves, but were up against some major European teams that were well resourced and expertly organised.
The New Zealanders rode well, with Strong just off the back of the peloton that broke up on the final city lap.
Evenepoel, who became the first rider to win the road time trial and race at the same Olympics, was dominant but had some nervous moments with 1.6km remaining when he punctured and had to frantically wave down his support vehicle for a replacement bike.
However, he had built up such a lead that he was able to reach the Eiffel Tower before the chasing group, finishing in 6:19:34, 2:57 ahead of Strong and 7:23 in front of Pithie, who finished 24th in the time trial earlier in the week.
Chloe Tipple has a massive job ahead of her to reach the women’s skeet shooting final.
Tipple shot scores of 23, 22 and 20 for a total of 65 in the first three of five qualifying rounds on Saturday to leave her 28th in the 29-strong field.
Even perfect scores in the final two qualifying rounds on Sunday may not be enough to see her finish in the top-six that qualify for the final.
The 33-year-old Christchurch shooter is an experienced Olympic performer, having finished 13th in Rio in 2016 and 27th three years ago in Tokyo. She described her opening day as “not a good day in the office”.
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