Bitter sweet Olympics for Van Koeverden

Adam Van Koeverden came to these Olympics full of confidence and fully expecting to become one of the most decorated Canadian Summer Olympians ever.  After Saturday Van Koeverden leaves with alot of disappointment and questions as to what happened.  The Canadian flag bearer was fully expected to win a medal for Canada and lead the country by example.  While he goes away with a silver to give him a full collection of Olympic medals, it was not what Van Koerden came for nor was it what he expected.

Coming into Beijing there was little doubt what Van Koeverden would win, double gold was all he was expecting.  And why not looking at his track record, the defending k-1 500 gold medallist and world champion, the bronze medallist in the k-1 1000 last time, and the world record holder in the k-1 500 Van Koeverden had every advantage possible going into his kayak finals.  With every advantage possible and an impressive display in his heats in Beijing the question wasnèt would Adam win gold, but by how much?  After his Olympics came to an end Saturday most Canadians question about his races is WHAT?  A shocking eighth place finish in the k-1 1000 and a silver in the k-1 500 after having a boat length lead has left people wondering what happened.

Van Koeverden admitted he was quite shaken after his eighth place finish, "I ended up lying around and tossing and turning a lot which probably isn't the best way to deal with something like that," said van Koeverden. "I didn't know what else to do. I probably had four or five cold showers. That didn't do anything either. I tried to read but I wasn't interested in what Kurt Vonnegut had to say yesterday or today, which is strange because I usually eat it up."  It appeared however that it was far from his mind in the k-1 500 final after he blasted out of the gates to be up by a full boat length at the half way point of the race.  Being narrowly nipped out at the end was no doubt a shock and something no one could have seen happen.

So Van Koeverden leaves Beijing with a silver medal, not what he was expecting but something to salvage looking forward in his career.  Without a doubt this is the most trying time in his career and how he responds to this huge setback will be critical in order for him to get back to his dominating form over the past four years. Perhaps the silver and the eighth place are a wake up call to Van Koeverden that he now has some competition out there and has got to bring his a game all the time.  With this huge shock for Van Koeverden one thing is for sure he will not sit quietly and just let this affect him, he will fight and be more determined than ever to get back to his form that made him a lock to win gold at these Olympics.