Rheinisch hits turbulent waters

Another Olympic Games and another afternoon of gut-wrenching disappointment for kayaker Eoin Rheinisch.

Four years ago, the Kildare man watched as a bronze medal slipped agonisingly from his grasp by just over three seconds in Beijing. Yesterday there was no such wait. His quest for glory was over before he finished his semi-final run following an incredible incident when his kayak struck the bottom of the course and killed his momentum alongside Gate 19.

It was what former Taoiseach Charlie Haughey may have termed a GUBU moment. So how did Rheinisch explain the grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented scene where his Olympic dream was extinguished at the Lee Valley White Water Centre?