THE CANADIAN PRESS
BEIJING — Adam van Koeverden fought off a bout of self-doubt and a sleepless night to find some redemption with an Olympic silver medal in the men’s K-1 500-metre race Saturday.
With the shock of Friday’s eighth-place finish in the men’s K-1 1,000 metres still fresh in his mind, van Koeverden led most of the way in the 500, just fighting off Britain’s Tim Brabants to finish second in one minute 37.630 seconds.
"I’m proud of myself today," van Koeverden said. "Mostly just because of the stress and the pressure that I’ve been dealing with over the past 24 hours.
"There’s been a lot of doubt in my mind. It’s the kind of thing I’ve never dealt with before. It’s a little victory for me today."
Aussie Ken Wallace won gold in 1:37.252, while Brabants finished a hair behind van Koeverden at 1:37.671.
"The last hundred was just a huge struggle," said van Koeverden. "I didn’t have that usual pop that I do at the 200-metre mark. But I went for it. Marnie McBean (former Canadian rower) told me to fight like a tiger and I tried to. It was really tough. That’s why Kenny passed me. I was toast.
"I was as strong as I could be today."
Van Koeverden won both the 1,000 and 500 heats in Beijing, setting a world record in the 500 in the process. He also finished first in 1,000-metre semifinal, making Friday’s collapse even more unbelievable.
It all made for a challenging 24 hours for the man who carried the Maple Leaf during the opening ceremonies for these Games.
"I tried to sleep a lot but I didn’t," said van Koeverden. "I just ended up lying around and tossing and turning a lot, which probably isn’t the best way to deal with something like that. But I didn’t know what else to do. I probably had four or five cold showers but that didn’t do anything either. …
"I’ve been tossing and turning for 24 hours."
Van Koeverden won gold in the 500 and bronze in the 1,000 metres four years ago in Athens and carried Canada’s flag into the closing ceremonies as the country’s only double medallist at those Games.
He’s been the face of Canada’s team in China and perhaps the burden finally caught up with him in the 1,000.
"Just the mounting pressure of being a potential double gold medallist and knowing that I’ve won a lot of races up until now but they don’t really matter once you get here because it’s this one that counts, puts a lot of pressure on me and it has put a lot of pressure on me," said van Koeverden.
