Slovak slalom canoeist Michal Martikán won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics in the men’s canoe single after he fell behind his big rival – and, ultimately, the gold-medal winner – Frenchman Tony Estanguet, by 1.25 seconds. Sideris Tasiadis from Germany won silver, the TASR newswire reported.
“Somewhere inside I’m happy, but I’m also a bit disappointed,” Martikán said, as quoted by TASR. “Before the Olympics I longed for gold, in the finish I knew that after my little mistakes on such a ‘paddling’ track, my time would not be enough for a victory.”
The 33-year-old bronze medallist said that he was not absolutely happy with his performance, saying that there is always room for improvement.
“I was convinced that I would be faster in the finals, as I conserved enough energy for it,” Martinák told TASR. “I always maintain that it's possible to be even faster and do away with even the tiniest mistakes in the race, which means that one can push down the seconds as well. In other words, I could have pushed stronger with every stroke.”
This is Martikán’s fifth Olympic medal, after his two golds won in Atlanta and Beijing and two silvers from Sydney and Athens.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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