Liam Jegou: 'It’s going to be an hour now of me sulking and being a bit pissed off'

A small error had huge consequences for Liam Jegou at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre

Ireland's Liam Jegou dejected after finishing with a time of 208.39

The dream was within reach, but for Liam Jegou it very quickly turned into a nightmare. At the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre in Tokyo today the 25-year-old Clare native endured a heartbreaking semi-final exit at the C1 slalom, leading his event two thirds of the way through his run only to miss a gate on the gushing rapids, which ended his Games in an instant.

Jegou went into the 15-man semi-final confident of securing a top-10 finish to advance to the final a couple of hours later, and midway through it was going according to plan. He was quickest of the first five competitors through checkpoints one and two, with 21 of 25 gates successfully navigated at breakneck speed. But then things quickly fell apart. Jegou lost his line and narrowly snuck through one gate, the issue throwing his focus and costing him at the next one, where his final chance disappeared in an instant.