| Monday May 29, 2000 Triple gold for
Caroline Brunet at paddling world cup
SZEGED, Hungary (CP) - World champion Caroline Brunet of
Lac-Beauport, Que., one of Canada's top hopes for Olympic gold this fall, earned three
victories and added a bronze in Sunday's finals at the third stop on the World Cup
paddling circuit.
Brunet placed first in the all important K-1 500 metres,
which is an Olympic event, clocking one minute and 59.655 seconds. Josefa Idem of Germany
was second and Katrin Borchert of Australia was third
"Caroline continued to dominate the top women in the
world this weekend," said Graham Barton, the high performance director for the
Canadian Canoe Association.
"This was probably the last meet before the Olympics
that most the world's best are together and she wanted to show her stuff."
In her other Olympic event race, she was third with partner
Karen Furneaux of Waverley, N.S., in the K-2 500. A German crew won the race and Poland
was second.
"They are not at all disappointed," said Barton.
"It's still early and they had a very strong finish to the race which particularly
pleased them."
Brunet also placed first in the K-1 200 and the K-2 200
with Furneaux which are not Olympic events. Canada's women's fours crew also had a strong
day placing fourth in the K-4 500 and fifth in the K-4 200. The crew is comprised of
Marie-Josee Gibeau-Ouimet of Lachine, Que., Carrie Lightbound of Mississauga, Ont., Julia
Rivard of Quebec City and Kamini Jain of Japan.
"We reacted well to the pressure," said
Gibeau-Ouimet, the veteran of the crew. "We have good chemistry."
Canada finished third in the medal rankings with three
gold, a silver (won Saturday by Steve Giles of Lake Echo, N.S., in the C-1 1,000), and a
bronze. Germany was first at 9-2-0 and Hungary third at 5-8-7.
Reprinted with permission
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