ETIENNE STOTT celebrated gold in the men’s two-man canoe slalom yesterday — 15
months after a crash threatened to wreck his Olympic dream.
Britain bagged C2 gold and silver as the Lee Valley White Water Centre in
Hertfordshire became the hottest ticket in the Games.
Stott and Tim Baillie only just scraped into the final with the sixth best
time from the
Semis — but they delighted 10,500 fans with the performance of their lives as
David Florence and Richard Hounslow claimed second.
Stott, 33, whose only other claim to fame was being voted Bedford’s Sports
Personality of the Year in 2008, relived the nightmare moment which came
just a few metres from yesterday’s finish line.
He said: “This is all crazy. I remember the day my shoulder came out in
training 15 months ago. All those dreams disappeared at that moment.
“My shoulder came out of its joint and had to be put back and the tissues
around had been damaged. But a few days later a story came into my head.
“It was a long thread into time finishing here, with us winning. I thought
‘man, that could just happen’. We worked hard between the two of us and it
was not an easy road.
“We had some tough times and I am conscious of the way I got here. If I can do
it a lot of other people can.
“We have made a lot of sacrifices, of course. We are due a holiday and will
have time with our girlfriends. We also have to get out and share our
experiences with our friends. We owe a lot to a lot of people.”
Stott has dual nationality as his mother is French-Canadian but he considers
himself a true Brit.
He added: “I have been to Canada a few times on holiday but lived in Britain
all my life.
“My dad is from Manchester and I was born there. My gran Mary, who is in her
90s, is in a nursing home and this will have cheered her up.
“It was stranger than a dream to be on the podium. It could not have gone more
perfectly with two British crews standing on the podium. It was fantastic.
“It is a very strange experience when you come to big championships
because when you pack your gear, you put your medal tracksuit in the bag.
You don’t dare think about unwrapping it and putting it on.”
As for being big in Bedford, Stott grinned: “I guess this medal eclipses it.
Maybe I will be in the running in Bedford for this year as well!”
The duo are ranked sixth in the world and their biggest previous achievement
was landing bronze at the 2009 European Championships.
They were the first of the six teams to paddle but their time of 106.41sec
could not be beaten although it was just 0.36sec faster than their British
rivals.
It was certainly an emotional day for Baillie whose family have a rich
tradition in the sport.
His uncle, Mike Jones, was a renowned adventurer who wrote books and made
films about travelling the world in a kayak.
But he died in 1978 while trying to save someone following a river accident
near the mountain K2.
Baillie said: “My uncle did the first expedition to Nepal via a river and
paddled up the river which leads to Mount Everest.
“I never met him as I was born a year after he died but some of his friends
were here to watch today.”