Finn Butcher’s run in the canoe slalom K1, which began so promisingly with his outstanding first-day performance, ended in disappointment today.
Butcher, 29, was penalised 50 points when the officials deemed he had missed a gate. It was a pity because his time of 90.40s was one of the fastest of the semi-finals and would easily have qualified him for a spot in the final 12. Instead, with a couple of other minor penalties added, he totalled 146.40 and finished 19th.
Butcher seemed surprised to be hit with the penalty, and when he finished his run he was initially celebrating with supporters.
He said it didn’t feel to him like he’d done anything to warrant the penalty. “It didn’t feel like it from where I was, but they’ve got a few camera angles and can slow down the action.”
The Central Otago man said he was “pretty gutted” to bow out of the competition in that manner, but even so he struck a philosophical noted.
“It was a few millimetres. As disappointed as I am not to get to race in the final, that’s sport. It’s often decided by just a few millimetres.”
He said that overall he’d enjoyed his first taste of the Olympics. “It was awesome, to be racing with the best in the world. It was always my dream as a kid, and as an adult, to get to the Olympics.”
Like New Zealand’s top female canoe slalom racer, Luuka Jones, Butcher will now turn his attention to the kayak cross.
“I’ll sit on what happened here for a bit, and then put it aside and move on to my other event.”