NZ kayakers' olympic struggle: Inside the disastrous performance

New Zealand kayakers Max Brown and Grant Clancy's performance has gone down in Olympic history as one of the worst. Their 457-metre race was so weak that television cameras didn't capture them following the rest of the pack. Why? The reason lies very "deep."

"Why didn't the New Zealand crew move when the gun went off?" This question arose immediately after the start of the men's C2 457-metre kayak race at Vaire-sur-Marne track in Paris. The mentioned kayak duo had clear problems getting started and competing, "falling behind" in skills compared to the rest of the pack.

Brown and Clancy finished the race over 46 seconds—or about 201 metres—behind the winners of the 457-metre race, the Russians Alexey Korovashkov and Zakhar Petrov. They recorded a time of 2:22.09, which would have placed them last in the women's competition. Despite this, they managed to start in the quarterfinals but, to put it mildly, didn't shine there either.

Although their kayaking skills were clearly behind the rest of the pack, fans strongly supported them with cheers and loud clapping. The question remains, why did such a performance occur at the Olympics?

According to New Zealand media reports, local kayaking is very underdeveloped. The New Zealand kayaking association (Canoe Racing NZ - CRNZ) received funding of 2.5 million dollars annually to develop this discipline, and although it has progressed, such a performance at the Olympics was disappointing.

So how did Max Brown and Grant Clancy end up in Paris? The reason lies in the qualification rules for the Oceania Olympics. Initially, Canoe Racing NZ prioritized qualifying for the quad race, but during last year's world championships, their team did not secure a spot in the French capital.

CRNZ hoped to secure two Olympic spots in C2, which would allow for the selection of four athletes, but at the Oceania championships in Sydney, they only managed to obtain one, so they had to implement "plan C."

The matter became so significant that it reached the New Zealand Sports Tribunal. CRNZ rejected the spot in the K1 1,006-metre race, won by Quaid Thompson, wanting to focus entirely on the K4 race. In order for this to happen, it was decided that Max Brown and Grant Clancy would compete in the duo race.

The kayakers had only three months to prepare to compete against the best athletes in the world. They twice completed races without any incidents, but Clancy, who steered the kayak from the back, described starting in C2 as "a completely different sport."

When I got out of the boat at the end of the last race, I couldn't feel my right leg and fell over because it was so numb. That's the hardest part; it's so one-sided, while the kayak is really symmetrical. So it was really tough for the legs, my poor butt—I worked hard in the gym to be strong enough—rnz.co.nz quotes his words.

The New Zealand kayakers will participate in one more 457-metre race, which will take place on Thursday, August 8, at 11:00 AM EST.