David Florence comes a cropper in canoe slalom final
SCOTLAND'S hopes of contributing a first medal to Team GB at the Rio Olympics were dashed when David Florence suffered a disastrous final run in the C1 canoe slalom.
The Aberdeen-born 34-year-old went into the final hoping to add a gold medal to the two silvers he won at Beijing and London.
After a solid run in the semi-final, where he finished seventh in 99.36, the world champion went off fourth in the ten-man final.
The start was better than he enjoyed in the semi but things deteriorate quickly when he missed the 11th gate and had to paddle back. That already made a medal unlikely and when he messed up the next gate too the dream was over. He coasted the rest of the course and finished last with a time of 109 seconds.
Florence will now aim for a medal in the C2 event with partner Richard Hounslow on Thursday.
Denis Gargaud Chanut of France took gold by almost a second from Slovakia’s Matej Benus. Japan’s Takuya Haneda won bronze.