Eoin Rheinisch has finished fourth overall in the Kayaking K1, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal.
Rheinisch posted 176.91 in the final. Alexander Grimm won the gold medal. It came down to the final participant to complete the medal line-up and Togo's Benjamin Boukpeti beat Rheinisch's time by three and a half seconds to take the bronze ahead of the Dubliner.
He had qualified for the final with a time of 88.85 thanks to another incredible slice of luck.
Peter Kauzer, the competitor who posted the best time yesterday, started off impressively and looked to be on course to posting one of the best times.
But Kauzer amazingly hit two gates near the end of his run to incur a four second penalty that put him in 12th place to hand Rheinisch another lifeline.
This gave Rheinisch the chance to compete in the final, where he secured his magnificent finish.
Fine Gael's Arts, Sport and Tourism spokesperson, Olivia Mitchell TD, was quick to congratulate Rheinisch.
‘Eoin Rheinisch was only a whisker away from a medal today, putting in a showing which was way beyond expectations.
‘Despite the low expectations for Irish athletes, this performance reminds us that sport can always deliver surprises, and enthusiasm and commitment can compete with the huge nvestment in preparation available to some countries’ athletes.
‘This is the best performance by an Irish Olympian to date and I warmly congratulate Eoin.
‘The drama and the potential for an outsider to emerge victorious whet the appetite for the Olympics and help to quell the cynicism that has arisen around it in recent times.
‘This should also be a great encouragement to the Irish athletes who are coming after him in the coming days.’
