I've been waiting to say anything more about the U.S. Olympic selection in flatwater because it's been hard to find much information online. But the USA Canoe-Kayak website has finally posted a good explanation of what the situation is in the aftermath of the Pan American Championships at Lake Lanier last weekend.
Right now the U.S. has one guaranteed Olympian in flatwater sprint: Maggie Hogan of Huntington Beach, California, will compete in 500-meter single kayak in Rio. She took second in this event behind a Canadian this past Friday, and since Canada had already qualified a female 500-meter kayaker for the Olympics, Hogan got a berth for herself.
2012 Olympian Tim Hornsby of Atlanta failed to place high enough in the 200-meter single kayak to guarantee his trip to Rio, but stands a decent chance of being named to the team later once other Pan Am nations announce their Olympic teams and the ICF reallocates any unused slots. 1000-meter canoeist Ian Ross of Gainesville, Georgia, also has a fair chance of ending up in Rio.
In both 2008 and 2012, the U.S. managed to send only two flatwater sprint racers to the Olympics. Part of the reason is simply that U.S. athletes haven't been that successful at the international level so far in the 21st century. Another part of the reason is the IOC's constraints on the number of canoe and kayak athletes in the Games, and its determination to allocate more of those berths to parts of the world that traditionally have not been as strong in canoe and kayak racing.
In any case, I'm hoping for the best. I yearn for "the old days" when the U.S. sent a full contingent of flatwater racers--K2s, C2s, K4s, the whole bit--to the Olympics. If it could get more than just the two berths it got in '08 and '12, that would be a shot in the arm.
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