Olympic debutant Tristan Carter produced a gallant effort in the Men’s Canoe Single (C1) final, placing ninth in an action-packed session at the Vaire-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Tristan had a strong performance in the semi-final with a clean run to qualify eighth for the medal event.

Hoping to land himself on the podium with another clean run, and ride the wave of success set by teammate Jess Fox, Tristan was strong through the first half of the course. However, a mistake on gate 15, saw the Aussie take a two second time penalty.

Tristan finished the competition in ninth place overall.

The Melbourne-based athlete, who moved to Penrith to train, admitted he was disappointed with the result but the experience made him hungry for more.

He has his eyes already set on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

“I had a lot of time to improve and the top section was it, that was what I was after,” Tristan said.

“I don’t know, the heat got to me, it fell apart towards the end, but what an occasion.

“This is only the beginning. I feel I can get a lot better and, you know, goals haven’t been achieved yet.”

The C1 final was won by Nicolas Gestin of France, followed by British athlete Adam Burgess claiming silver and Matej Beňuš of Slovakia taking bronze.

“I know I have that in me, but I guess at the moment I have pride and honour to wear the green and gold,” Tristan said.

“It’s really a privilege. It’s something not many people say they can do.”

Words courtesy of olympics.com.au.
Image courtesy of Garry Bowden.