There were mixed results for Team Ireland at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, as Noel Hendrick secured a place in Thursday's men’s K1 semi-final, while Michaela Corcoran was eliminated in the heats of the women’s C1 Canoe Slalom.
Hendrick recovered from an error-strewn first run in the kayak heats to finish 19th overall with a best time of 90.68 seconds, and will return in the semi-finals on Thursday.
With 20 of the 24 participants advancing to the semis, Hendrick put himself under pressure with an opening time of 98.64 seconds, which left him 18th overall, after picking up five two-second time penalties.
However, the 26-year-old looked far more assured in his second run, with just one time penalty for touching the fifth gate leading to his 90.68 score, which was enough for him to finish 19th overall, just over ten seconds back from France’s Titouan Castryck, who produced the fastest time in the heats, 80.09 seconds.
"It was a really tough day, I think I've been struggling the last few weeks with being very safe and not taking risks in my runs and I think all I wanted to do today was go out and try to attack and race my fastest.I think in my first run I really achieved that but I took too many penalties and it was a really difficult build to the second run," said Hendrick, who is coached by 2008 Beijing Olympian Eoin Rheinisch.
"I guessed that I had to improve, I didn’t know for sure, but when I was in the start pool of the second run all I could hear was the commentators saying that I needed to improve my time and that was really tough mentally, but I performed well.
"I had a spin out and a touch in the middle of the run and I just knew from that point onwards I had to perform, I had to put down the fastest run that I possibly could so it was freeing in a way, but also I just attacked all the way to the bottom and I’m really pleased."
Earlier, Corcoran (below) endured a difficult Olympic debut when finishing 21st overall in the women’s C1 canoe slalom.
Twin sister of Madison, who competed in the K1 slalom on Monday, Corcoran needed to finish inside the top 18 to progress to the next round, but her best time of 129.55 seconds left her bottom of the field, 19 seconds back from qualification.
The 21-year-old logged five penalties in her opening run of 129.55, but had looked far more assured in her second run before a late missed gate.
Coming into the final split almost seven seconds better than her opening run, her chances of reaching the semis were ended when she missed the penultimate gate of the course, leading to a 50-second time penalty and a score of 168.08 seconds.
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