Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:11 pm
I really felt for the Under 23 C2 Teams at the European Champs today. There were 5 Junior teams, so the winners were crowned European Champions, got medals, flowers and their national anthem played.
There were only 4 Under 23 C2 teams, so prize giving was Junior C1, Junior C2, Junior Women, U23 Women, Junior C2, Junior Men, U23 Men, all European Champions, then winner of the U23 C2 event.
No medals, no anthems, not European Champions, just event winners with flowers.
The Best Teams from the four biggest countries in C2 were competing, but as there were only four, it was no a championship.
No complaints about the organiseration, thems the rules so nothing more could be done, its just very hard when two events follow one another, either side of the cut off point.
Shame we could not have made up a scratch C2 team from other nations who did not have 3 C2s to race.
Massive sympathy for the teams though, especially as the Men's kayak teams started messing around thinking the prize giving was over.
So to the French, German and Czech teams, well done. To Mathieu Fougere, Thomas Fougere, Gauthier Klauss, Mathieu Peche, Mathieu Voyemant and Danien Troquenet, I for one consider you European Team Champions, and I hope you see this, or someone translates it for me and posts on Eauvivre for you to see. (My 35 year old school boy French is not up to it).
Good luck to all of you, and I hope you have a good fight for the silver and bronze. Well GB are getting the gold aren't they?
There were only 4 Under 23 C2 teams, so prize giving was Junior C1, Junior C2, Junior Women, U23 Women, Junior C2, Junior Men, U23 Men, all European Champions, then winner of the U23 C2 event.
No medals, no anthems, not European Champions, just event winners with flowers.
The Best Teams from the four biggest countries in C2 were competing, but as there were only four, it was no a championship.
No complaints about the organiseration, thems the rules so nothing more could be done, its just very hard when two events follow one another, either side of the cut off point.
Shame we could not have made up a scratch C2 team from other nations who did not have 3 C2s to race.
Massive sympathy for the teams though, especially as the Men's kayak teams started messing around thinking the prize giving was over.
So to the French, German and Czech teams, well done. To Mathieu Fougere, Thomas Fougere, Gauthier Klauss, Mathieu Peche, Mathieu Voyemant and Danien Troquenet, I for one consider you European Team Champions, and I hope you see this, or someone translates it for me and posts on Eauvivre for you to see. (My 35 year old school boy French is not up to it).
Good luck to all of you, and I hope you have a good fight for the silver and bronze. Well GB are getting the gold aren't they?
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