Olympic Canoe/Kayak Flatwater Medals & USA Results
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Olympic Canoe/Kayak Flatwater Medals & USA Results By Dan Henderson The goal of this paper is to provide the reader with a clear understanding of the history of USA Canoe/Kayak Sprint performance, and where it is trending. From the data it’s clear that the USA Team international performance has been in decline, and there’s not much farther down to go. The American Canoe Association, the National Governing Body for canoe/kayak racing in the United States, is tasked with a turnaround project to stop the decline and improve performance. I believe there’s a set of solutions and that those of us within the sport now can find it: that we can provide the opportunities for American youth to prepare for and successfully compete with the best in the world, that given the opportunity many American youth will step up to the challenge and prepare and compete. Fundamental is that national leadership initiate a discussion involving all stakeholders as to what is to be accomplished, and how to develop performance based structures and programs, to build an attitude of confidence and high expectations to move our nation’s performance forward in a positive direction. It is my hope that this paper will initiate that discussion. USA Canoe/Kayak Olympic Performance 100% % Entered 90% % Top 9 80% % Medal 70% 60% Trend Line 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1992 2012 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1996 2000 2004 2008 2016 Chart 1 – USA Canoe/Kayak Olympic Performance In a given Olympic year, the chart above displays the percentage of total canoe/kayak events the USA Team entered, in what percentage of the total events the USA Team reached the final 1 for sprints (or top 9 for 10,000m events through 1956), and the podium (medal). The higher the percentage the better. The overall trend has seen a steady decline to almost nothing in 2016, with the dotted line representing the trend line. There was a bump up during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when many of us thought we were on our way to solidly developing Canoe/Kayak Sprint in our country. There was even a dramatic improvement in the results at Junior Worlds in the early and mid-1990s. But following a dramatic sport leadership change and change in organizational direction, the decline resumed thereafter. Also impactful was the adoption of an Olympic qualification system in 2000, when nations were required to qualify for the Olympic Games. Prior to 2000, nations could simply enter their selected athletes. The last time USA won a Canoe/Kayak Sprint medal was Barcelona 1992 in men’s kayak. The last time a woman kayaker won a medal was Tokyo 1964. The last time a man canoeist won an Olympic medal was Helsinki 1952. The last time USA reached the Final in any event was Sydney 2000. Only two athletes (one woman and one man kayaker) qualified for the Olympics in London 2012, and Rio 2016 just one woman kayaker. The last time a canoeist qualified to race in the Olympics was in Athens 2004. For these metrics to change, the USA must qualify more boats to race in the Olympics, and also perform at a higher level: reaching the final and the podium. For American youth to have the opportunity to race successfully at the international level, there must be change. And the longer the organization waits, the more young Americans will not have the opportunity at success. USA Canoe/Kayak Olympic Percentage from 1st Place 0.18 Kayak Women Canoe Men 0.16 Kayak Men 0.14 Overall 0.12 Trend Line 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 1972 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1976 1980 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 1984* 2 Chart 2 – USA Canoe/Kayak Olympic Percentage from 1st Place The second chart depicts the percentage differences for each discipline, and the combined (overall) disciplines, of USA times compared to the winning times. Here the lower the percentage the better the performance, as that indicates a narrower gap between the winners and the USA athletes. With the nearly flat slope to the line, the percentages Americans have been off the Olympic gold medalists has been virtually unchanged since canoe/kayak became an Olympic sport in 1936: at between eight and nine percent. For American youth to have the opportunity to race successfully at the international level, there must be change. And the longer the organization waits, the more young Americans will not have the opportunity at success. Chart Lessons As a national organization, USA has never delivered a sustained, methodical, and effective program of sport development. The closest was during the late 1980s to early 1990s when we did see a better performance. There was even an improvement in Junior Worlds results through 1995, with canoes and kayaks reaching the middle of the A Final, indicating younger athletes were coming up. Of note, the Junior Women’s K4 at 1996 Junior Pre-Worlds in Helsinki was faster than the Senior Women’s K4 at the Atlanta Olympics. The adult leaders of the sport during the past 25 years, some of whom are still involved, need to take a hard look at themselves and the deteriorating results under their watch. And those in current leadership positions need to lead our nation to build buy-in and consensus, and develop and implement a sustained, methodical, and aggressive plan that has a high likelihood of success so that American youth have the opportunity and ability to compete successfully with the best in the world. And the plan cannot simply be a recycling of the unrealistic and failed attempts from the last 25 years. And most importantly, everyone, including adult leaders at clubs and at the American Canoe Association, as well as aspiring athletes, must be willing to do the work. Any currently developing athlete who has aspirations of reaching an Olympic podium cannot use performance in any domestic race, including USA Team Trials and National Championships, as a metric for successful international competition because the USA level is so low. For American youth to have the opportunity to race successfully at the international level, there must be change. And the longer the organization waits, the more young Americans will not have the opportunity at success. 3 Olympics Results Key USA Final A USA Non-final 1924 Paris Demonstration Sport, Dual meet between Canadian Canoe Association and Washington Canoe Club. Distances and times unknown. Event Gold Silver Bronze C1M Roy C. Nurse (CAN) Harry C. Greenshields (CAN) A. A. Lindsay (CAN) C2M Harry C. Greenshields Roy C. Nurse K. M. Knight, A. A. Lindsay (CAN) G. M. Duncan (CAN) Harry T. Knight Jr. (USA) C4M A. A. Lindsay, J. F. Larcombe Harry C. Greenshields K. M. Knight G. M. Duncan C. W. Havens Roy C. Nurse (CAN) Harry T. Knight Jr. (USA) K1M C. W. Havens (USA) Roy C. Nurse (CAN) Harry T. Knight Jr. (USA) K2M C. W. Havens, Roy C. Nurse Harry T. Knight Jr. (USA) G. M. Duncan (CAN) K4M J. F. Larcombe. A. A. Lindsay K. M. Knight, Harry C. Greenshields C. W. Havens, G. M. Duncan Harry T. Knight Jr. (USA) Roy C. Nurse (CAN) 1932 Los Angeles – no canoe events 1936 Berlin – First time as an official full-medal event Event Gold Silver Bronze USA non-Medal C1M 1000m Frank Amyot Bohuslav Karlík Erich Koschik 5th – Joseph Hasenfus (CAN) 5:32.1 (TCH) 5:36.9 (GER) 5:39.0 6:02.6 C2M 1000m Vladimír Syrovátka Rupert Weinstabl Frank Saker 6th – Clarence Jan Brzák-Felix Karl Proisl Harvey Charters McNutt, Robert Graf (TCH) 4:50.1 (AUT) 4:53.8 (CAN) 4:56.7 5:14.0 C2M 10,000m Václav Mottl Frank Saker Rupert Weinstabl 5th – Joseph Hasenfus, Zdeněk Škrland Harvey Charters Karl Proisl Walter Hasenfus (TCH) 50:35.3 (CAN) 51:15.8 (AUT) 51:28.0 57:06.2 K1M 1000m Gregor Hradetzky Helmut Cämmerer Jaap Kraaier 4th – Ernest Riedel (AUT) 4:22.9 (GER) 4:25.6 (NED) 4:35.1 4:38.1 K1M 10,000m Ernst Krebs Fritz Landertinger Ernest Riedel (GER) 46:01.6 (AUT) 46:14.7 (USA) 47:23.9 K1M 10,000m Gregor Hradetzky Henri Eberhardt (FRA) Xaver Hörmann 10th – Burr Folks (USA) Folding (AUT) 50:01.2 50:04.2 (GER) 50:06.5 55:32.1 K2M 1000m Adolf Kainz Ewald Tilker Nicolaas Tates 5th in Heat 1 – 4 Alfons Dorfner Fritz Bondroit Wim van der Kroft Ernest Riedel (AUT) 4:03.8 (GER) 4:08.9 (NED) 4:12.2 Burr Folks 4:24.8 K2M 10,000m Paul Wevers Viktor Kalisch Tage Fahlborg 7th – William Gaehler, Ludwig Landen Karl Steinhuber Helge Larsson William Lofgren (GER) 41:45.0 (AUT) 42:05.4 (SWE) 43:06.1 45:15.4 K2M 10,000m Sven Johansson Willi Horn Adolf Kainz 7th – John Lysak, Folding Erik Bladström Erich Hanisch Alfons Dorfner James O'Rourke (SWE) 45:48.9 (GER) 45:49.2 (AUT) 46:12.4 49:46.0 1940 Tokyo, changed to Helsinki – Then cancelled due to World War II 1944 – No Olympics due to World War II 1948 London Event Gold Silver Bronze USA non-Medal K1W 500m Karen Hoff Alida van der Anker- Fritzi Schwingl No entry (DEN) 2:31.9 Doedens (NED) 2:32.8 (AUT) 2:32.9 C1M 1000m Josef Holeček Douglas Bennett Robert Boutigny 5th – William Havens (TCH) 5:42.0 (CAN) 5:53.3 (FRA) 5:55.9 6:14.3 C1M 10,000m František Čapek Frank Havens Norman Lane (TCH) 1:02:05.2 (USA) 1:02:40.4 (CAN) 1:04:35.3 C2M 1000m Jan Brzák-Felix Steven Lysak Georges Dransart Bohumil Kudrna Stephen Macknowski Georges Gandil (TCH) 5:07.1, (USA) 5:08.2 (FRA) 5:15.2 C2M 10,000m Steven Lysak Václáv Havel Georges Dransart Stephen Macknowski Jiří Pecka Georges Gandil (USA) 55:55.4 (TCH) 57:38.5 (FRA) 58:00.8 K1M 1000m Gert Fredriksson Johan Frederik Henri Eberhardt 6th in Heat 2 – Thomas (SWE) 4:33.2 Kobberup (DEN) 4:39.9 (FRA) 4:41.4 Horton 4:58.0 K1M 10,000m Gert Fredriksson Kurt Wires Elvind Skabo 12th – Ernest Riedel (SWE) 50:47.7 (FIN) 51:18.2 (NOR) 51:35.4 56:34.5 K2M