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Drugs row overshadows battle of the paddle
Already under-fire from environmentalists, the last thing the canoeing competition at the Olympics needed was to get embroiled in a doping scandal.
Already under-fire from environmentalists, the last thing the canoeing competition at the Olympics needed was to get embroiled in a doping scandal.
But in a depressing sign of the times, Spain's Jovino Gonzalez, a veteran of the Atlanta and Sydney Games, tested positive for the banned substance EPO and was dropped from the canoe team for Athens.
"Gonzalez tested positive for EPO in a surprise test before the Games," said a Spanish Sports Council spokesman.
It was the last thing the sport needed to hear after it had already battled problems associated with the Schinias rowing and canoeing centre here.
On the water, 23-year-old Kiwi Ben Fouhy is one of his country's best hopes for a gold being the dominant force in the 1,000m kayak (K1) division having seen his work under the watchful eye of four-times gold medallist Ian Ferguson pay dividends.
He has already won the world title in Atlanta, chopped 20 seconds off his personal best time and his winning time of 3min 27.37sec at the 2003 World Cup in Poland put him second in the all-time list behind Norway's Helmut Knut.
If Fouhy was looking for advice on how to conquer Olympic glory, he could do worse than talk to Germany's Birgit Fischer who at 41 has gone back on her pledge to retire for one last attempt to add to her seven Olympic titles.
Fischer, who originally represented East Germany, won two golds at Sydney in 2000 in what what was her fifth Games.
Had the former Communist state not boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, she most probably would have added to her incredible tally.
The canoe/kayak flatwater competition will be held at Schinias, near the village of Marathon, over six days, from August 23-28 while the slalom is to be staged at the Helliniko Olympic Complex from August 17-20.
But the construction of the Schinias site was, like many others in Greece, not without its problems.
The original location, near the rowing centre, was moved after complaints from environmentalists and archaeologists who complained that the facility would endanger birds and fish and also encroach on the site of the 490 BC Battle of Marathon.
Other gold medal contenders include 24-year-old Slovakian twins Peter and Pavol Hochschorner who will be defending their C2 slalom title.
The duo have won the last five World Cup crowns as well as the 2002 World Championships in 2002 and three European titles with the highlight coming in Sydney when they just edged French defending champions Frank Adisson and Wilfrid Forgues to take gold.
If Fischer fails in her bid, Germany can still look to 26-year-old Katrin Wagner who won gold in the kayak doubles and quads in Sydney.
