Rheinisch: I can't complain with fourth

Irish canoeist Eoin Rheinisch admitted he could not be too despondent despite going so close to winning a medal in today's Olympic Kayak K1 Slalom final.

Speaking after his fourth place finish in Beijing, Rheinisch said: "It's heartbreaking that I'm so close to a medal. One error is what cost me a medal, but I was really fortunate to come this far."

The Dubliner was indeed fortunate to make it through to the final at the Shunyi Olympic Park as he finished last of the 15 semi-final qualifiers and last of the 10 qualifiers for the final.

Had American Scott Parsons' two appeals against a 50-second penalty been successful yesterday, Rheinisch would have missed out on a semi-final spot.

But he battled on and his semi-final time of 88.85 - 2.77 seconds behind surprise top qualifier Benjamin Boukpeti of Togo - saw him squeeze into the final.

He had to survive another nerve-jangling appeal when Peter Kauzer, the event favourite and the last man down the course in the semi-final, disputed a four-second penalty which pushed the Slovakian down to 13th.

That appeal was dismissed and Rheinisch, first off in the final, really attacked the course and found his rhythm on his last run.

Going for broke and helped by an impressive middle section, the 28-year-old gained his fourth clear run of the Olympics.

Punching the air after seeing his time of 88.06 flash up on the video screen, the Salmon Leap clubman had a combined total time of 176.91 seconds.

For a short while, Rheinisch amazingly led the field and Dutchman Robert Bouten, another medal contender, was enraged when he picked up a 50-second penalty.

Germany's Alexander Grimm was next on the course and his superb run of 84.39 was enough to secure him the gold medal.

French star Fabien Lefevre followed and he timed 86.09 for silver. By that point, Rheinisch had been relegated to third place, with only Australia's Warwick Draper and Boukpeti to come.

Draper's run was a nervy one. Blighted by mistakes, his time of 91.76 had him out of the medals.

And after all that, the only man who stood between Rheinisch and an Olympic bronze medal was Boukpeti, the world number 56.

Unfortunately for the Irishman and his support team of Han Bijnen (coach), Deaglain O'Driscoll (team manager) and Brendan Hackett (sports psychologist), the African held his nerve to finish with total time of 173.45 and win bronze.

It was Togo's first ever Olympic medal and Boukpeti also has the distinction of becoming the first non-European male kayaker to win an Olympic slalom medal.

"I can't complain, I've been riding my luck to get just through each heat to the final but fourth is still a very good achievement," Rheinisch conceded.

"Hopefully this will give the rest of the Irish team a boost as well."

His performance surpasses Irish stalwart Ian Wiley's best Olympic finish of fifth in Atlanta in 1996.

Reacting to the news, Irish Canoe Union President Eamon Devoy said: "Eoin carried the flag for canoeing in Ireland in the best possible way, by performing to his potential. He did us proud."