Two more canoe-kayak athletes made the U.S. Olympic Team today. Competing in the whitewater slalom World Cup event at Cardiff, Wales, Scott Parsons placed 11th overall to earn the U.S. Olympic berth in men's kayak, while Casey Eichfeld finished sixth to claim the berth in men's single canoe.
Parsons held off the challenge of Jim Wade, who had entered this competition just two points back in the U.S. Olympic selection process. Wade, who ended up 17th, had a raw time that was faster than Parsons's, but a two-second gate-touch penalty cost him a spot on the Olympic Team. Parsons is now an Olympian for the third time, joining Davey Hearn and Scott Shipley as the only U.S. whitewater paddlers to accomplish that feat. The other U.S. male kayaker in Cardiff, 2004 Olympian Brett Heyl, finished 29th.
Eichfeld turned in a fast and clean performance in the semifinal round to advance to the C1 final. 2008 Olympian Benn Fraker, who had led Eichfeld by two points in the selection process, had a superb raw time in the semifinal, but two gate-touch penalties (four seconds) knocked him back to 11th place. Since only the top ten semifinalists move on to the final, Eichfeld was assured the better finish. The third U.S. canoeist in the field was Zach Lokken, who finished 28th.
Results of today's racing in Cardiff are available here.
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