Australia’s Canoe Sprint Team has put the finishing touches on their Paris 2024 campaign, with Alyce Wood and Tom Green ranked 16th in the women’s K1 500m and 17th in the men’s K1 1000m respectively.

Eighth place in the B Final ends Alyce’s 10-year international career, with her two-year-old Florence and her husband Jordan supporting from the stands in Paris.

“It’s bittersweet,” Alyce said who finished with a time of 1:55.04.

“I wanted to be in that A Final obviously. It’s the strongest field we’ve ever had in the women’s race. The world record holder just missed out on a medal.

“I’m just stoked to be part of it and to finish my career here with the team around me.

For the 31-year-old from the Sunshine Coast, her story to get here is one she takes immense pride in after taking a year off competition in 2022 to become a mum.

“What I’ve been able to achieve in the last couple of years is pretty cool,” she said.

“Hopefully to show female athletes in the future that motherhood shouldn’t be the end of an athletic career.

“It should only mean you can be better and stronger.”

For Tom, just a day after securing a bronze medal in the K2 500m, he challenged himself with the double duty. He placed ninth in his B Final in a time of 3:32.72.

“It’s a bit of a relief,” Tom said to have finished. “It’s been a long and tough journey these last three years. We’ve got to be really proud with what we’ve done.

“In the K1 to do well you really need to focus on it. I was pretty tired and fatigued after the lead up to the K2. At the end of the day I’m happy with where I’m at.”

The dual Olympian and dual Olympic medallist is going to take a break, but is confidence he wants to continue on to Los Angeles 2028 and potentially Brisbane 2032.

“At this stage that’s the plan.”

Alyce, whose best result at the Olympic Games was fifth in women’s K2 500 at Tokyo 2020, has already got an idea of what she wants to do in the new phase of her life that begins back in Australia.

“Go home and spend time with the family. Find a new routine, I’m really excited to find a new routine.”

Both Alyce and Tom were in semi-finals action in the morning, aiming to give themselves a chance in the afternoon A Finals.

First was Alyce in the women’s semi-final, who missed out on the coveted two A Final spots with her placing third in a time of 1:51.99. Slightly slower than the 1:51.39 she set in the heats on Wednesday.

Tom was in a hotly contested semi-final where he finished seventh in a time of 3:33.52, more than two seconds faster than his heat time from Wednesday. Only the top four advanced to the A Final.

Words courtesy of olympics.com.au.‍

‍Image courtesy of Garry Bowden.