Adam van Koeverden wins B final in last-ever Olympic kayak race

By Pete Evans, CBC Sports

Kayaker Adam van Koeverden won his last-ever Olympic race on Tuesday, taking first place in the B final of the men's 1,000-metre kayak sprint at the Rio Olympics.

• SCHEDULE & RESULTS: Complete coverage of canoe and kayak at Rio
• WATCH REPLAY: Adam van Koeverden finds silver lining by winning B final

Van Koeverden came into these games as a three-time Olympian and four-time medallist hoping to reach the podium again. But it was not to be for the 34-year-old native of Oakville, Ont., after he got off to a slow start in his semifinal Monday and as such was relegated to the B final for also-rans.

He put in a time of three minutes, 31.87 seconds, leading pretty much wire-to-wire. Had he qualified for the A final, that would have been good enough for a silver medal, as the gold medal winner Marcus Walz of Spain, only beat that by half a second.

Van Koeverden confirmed to the CBC's Karin Larsen that these Rio Games will be his final Olympics.

"The next Olympics are four years away, I'm not going to be paddling anymore," he said in a post-race interview.

Oldershaw 4th in canoe B final

Elsewhere at the Lagoa Stadium on Tuesday, other Canadians raced in various B finals after also failing to qualify for the medal round on Monday.

Canoeist Mark Oldershaw, who won a bronze medal in the event in London four years ago, raced in the B final of the men's 1,000-metre canoe sprint, finishing 4th.

• WATCH REPLAY: Mark Oldershaw finishes 4th place in B final
• WATCH: Oldershaw speaks to CBC after his race

He told the CBC's Karin Larsen after his race that while it was tough to get excited for racing in a B final, he was thankful for outpouring of support from home after failing to qualify for the medals on Monday.

"I tried to put in a good race," the 33-year-old from Burlington, Ont. said Monday. "I still have more races so it's time to focus on that."

Oldershaw gets another shot at redemption on the water later this week when he races in the men's 200-metre canoe sprint race.

Results from Canadian women

On the women's side, the duo of Genevieve Orton and Kathleen Fraser came in 5th place in their B final of the women's 500-metre kayak double.

• WATCH REPLAY: Canada's Fraser and Orton finish 5th in B final

Quebec City native Andreanne Langlois finished in sixth place in her B final, the women's 200-metre kayak sprint.

• WATCH REPLAY: Langlois finishes 6th in B final

With files from The Canadian Press