Euro-domination in the sprints
By David Harrison and Boo Turner

Commenting on the television coverage of the Olympics, one wag suggested that NBC was so tightly cloaked in the American flag they were going to choke to death.

Not a problem at the sprint canoe and kayak races held at the beautiful Lake Lanier venue, where United States men and women struggled through the early heats and repechages to make the semi-finals, then quietly and slowly--in painfully obvious comparison to the European masters they were up against--went away. No U.S. boats made it to the final medal round, something that happened only once in the sport's 72-year Olympic history, in 1960.

U.S. fans had a reminder of past glories listening to Greg Barton--America's double gold medalist in Seoul and a bronze medalist at Barcelona and Los Angeles, as well--as he narrated stroke-by-stroke the action of the week of racing in which Germans, Italians, and Hungarians excelled. If you simply wanted to watch under-the-gun racing, there were no disappointments.

The outstanding individual performances were provided by Norway's Knut Hollman, who won gold and silver in the K-1 1000- and 500-meter events; Martin Doktor of the Czech Republic, a double gold medalist in the C-1 in both the 500- and 1000-meter distance; and Antonio Rossi, a modest, strikingly handsome and articulate 27-year old policeman from Italy who joined the rarified ranks of double gold medalists, scooping up the gold over Hollman in the 500-meter kayak event one day after winning with teammate Daniele Scarpa in the K-2 1,000-meter event.

These delighted Italians declared that working and winning with their teammates was more valuable than gold medals, as was family and friends, and, indeed, Rossi seemed more excited about his forthcoming October wedding than the hero's welcome that awaits him back home.

"I think I am not a hero," said Rossi more than humbly on Sunday after his second victory. "I am proud to be a member of the Italian Team. I consider maybe Holmann a hero. I see him in the 1,000 meters--he is strong. I can't believe now I win."

Martin Doktor, a 22-year-old from the Czech Republic, will not be hiding his gold medals under a bushel. Patting his second gleaming, hefty medallion, he said, "There is nothing better. I was preparing for this for fifteen years." Doktor--who the Americans call Doc Martin--despite claims of speaking English poorly, was able to articulate without hesitation that he was the first Czech in 44 years to bring home a medal in sprint canoe racing. It's his profession, says this student of physical education, and one that runs in the family, with a father, brother and sister-in-law all coaches in the sport. "I think there was no way to do another sport," he said, smiling.

Kayaker Knut Hollman, looking every bit the blond, blue-eyed Norseman, called it only a "coincidence" that he became a paddler and not a skier. Ice-covered lakes force him to head to Spain or Florida for winter training. Unlike the paddling armadas from the countries against whom he competed, Norway's Olympic paddling team was only six paddlers deep.

Double medalists like Holmann and Rossi are rare enough, but the K-2 team of Torsten Gutsche and Kay Bluhm of Germany not only took gold and silver in the K-2 500- and 1000-meter races, but were the only paddlers on Lake Lanier to successfully defend their gold medal result from Barcelona in 1992. Their teammate, Thomas Reineck helped power the German K-4 to a gold in the 1000-meter event here as he did in Barcelona in 1992. Reineck was the only remaining member of the squad that won four years ago.

No German has more medals, nor perhaps more years of paddling excellence than Birgit Fischer. Here at Lake Lanier, at 34 years of age, and a single mother, she added to her career total, teaming with Ramona Portwich, 29, for a silver medal in the K-2, and a gold medal in the women's K-4. Here at Lake Lanier, Fischer matched the record for the most decorated Olympic paddler ever--eight medals now rest in her collection, five of which are golden.

In the end, there was no match for the Germans' ability to storm these waters. These athletes -- who yet come primarily from the east of the now-unified nation--carted off a third of the twelve gold medals awarded, and six medals overall. That count was matched by the Hungarians, and then the Italians, with five medals to their credit. All in all, these three paddling powerhouses hauled home nearly half of the thirty six medals, demonstrating once again the strength and support this tiny sport gets in these small countries through a well-knit system of clubs and competition.

But the German team of Fischer and Portwich, arguably the most successful women in the sport, unexpectedly couldn't fend off the Swedish team of Susanne Gunnarsson, 32, and Agneta Andersson, 35, in the K-2 500-meter dash to the line. The women of that watery country have historically done well, but yet, as veteran Gunnarsson exclaimed, "This is a holy day! We did not expect this medal!"

You could see that all these athletes were working their hardest to get to the line in a flash, and despite their decades of training in the sport, it was still tough: there were capsizes at the finish, collapses on the dock, and sheer exhaustion was evident. As the K-2 500 meter bronze medalist Katrin Borchert of Australia put it, "The hardest part of the race was the start and then the 499 meters which followed."

And they all seemed glad the 6-day ordeal of racing--which came at the tail end of the Games and, for most, followed a month long stay--was at last over.

"Tomorrow, I go home," said Rita Koban of Hungary, the Olympic champion in women's K-1. "My dog, Roger, waits for me."

Boo Turner is a frequent contributor to Outside Online, and is a former member of the U.S. National kayak team. Dave Harrison is publisher of Canoe & Kayak Magazine.