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Beijing — Just minutes before, Adam van Koeverden had been talking about his friend Mark Oldershaw and how the two Southern Ontario water bugs with a thing for paddling had finally made it to a Summer Olympics, together.
"Hopefully, we can get some awesome results," van Koeverden had said.
And then just like that, Mark Oldershaw's Olympics were over.
Instead of crossing the finish line and earning a place in Friday's rain-soaked final of the C-1 500-metres event, Oldershaw was left splashing the water in anger, his canoe capsized in a futile attempt to claim the last qualifying spot.
Canada's Adam van Koeverden paddles to win his Kayak single 500m men's semifinal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Thursday. (Gregory Bull/AP)
Brought to shore in a rescue boat, a dazed-looking Oldershaw took a short walk on a long dock, his head down. The dream of winning an Olympic medal alongside van Koeverden, his child-hood buddy and long-time training partner, had been scuttled.
Worse for Oldershaw, he wasn't sure what went wrong.
"It was an all right start," he explained. "I tried to go harder. I tried to pick it up half-way and started to have a start of a good finish and then just fell apart the last 100 metres.
"It felt ... I don't know."
Oldershaw knew he was in a tough semi-final matched against rivals from Hungary, Romania and Poland. Still, the 25-year-old son of Canadian canoe/kayak coach Scott Oldershaw figured he would get to the final. Fate and preparation would reward him; he would find a way.
In his first heat, Oldershaw went through comfortably without so much as a hitch. But in Thursday's semi-final, he fell behind and was unable to make up the distance. Like a sprinter lunging at the finish line, Oldershaw pushed his canoe ahead in the hope of edging his way into third spot.
He ended up in the water, instead.
"It was just a last desperation attempt to try to beat someone," Oldershaw said later. "I kind of knew; you get a sense in your head that I wasn't going to do it. But I would have been mad at myself if I hadn't done it ... (In the water, I was) upset at myself. I don't think I should say to the press what I was saying in my head. But I was just really frustrated with myself for not having a good race when I needed it."
Winning a medal had been Oldershaw's goal for these Olympics and a family ambition, too. A third-generation paddler, Oldershaw, 25, wasn't able to compete four years ago in Athens. He'd been troubled by a left hand that required two rounds of surgery to remove a benign tumor and had missed precious training time.
His pal, van Koeverden, qualified for Athens in kayaking and won a gold and bronze medal. As much a gift as a motivational ploy, van Koeverden gave Oldershaw a red wrist band that had their initials on it and the year 2008. Getting to the Games was half the plan; the other half was each one winning a medal.
"It hasn't really sunk in," said Oldershaw. "I don't know what to do now. I guess I can do whatever I want the next two days. It's a big disappointment, obviously. I came here hoping to contend for a medal with my best race. That obviously wasn't my best race.
"I thought I was going to get into that final."
Van Koeverden appeared to be on cruise control when he won his semi-final in the K-1 500m. He took a lead and never relinquished it, finishing first without emptying his gas tank.
For two years now, van Koeverden has been a human motor boat, powering his way past the opposition. When he won the silver medal at last year's world championships, it made news largely because it marked the first time in 48 months he hadn't strode to the top of the podium.
Such success has cranked up the pressure on van Koeverden, who is being counted on win both the 500 and 1,000. Asked if he would consider these Games a letdown if he didn't turn the golden double, van Koeverden refused to go that route.
"I won't be disappointed. I'm concentrating on putting my best races on the water. That's all I can ask of myself," he insisted. "If somebody wants to come out and do 1:33, there's probably nothing I can do about it. That's the good and the bad ... it's not a combative sport. You can't reach out and knock the other guy over. All I can do is try to go as fast as I can."
Oldershaw put his hurt aside and wished teammates Andrew Russell and Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny good luck in their C-2 500 semi-final. Maybe it helped since the Canadian duo made it to the final.
"I bleed for this guy," Russell said of Oldershaw. "We all know how talented he is. Everyone saw how impressive he was in the heats. You feel for him today."
