Sore arms, calloused palms and blistered hands are par for the course in kayaking. But beyond the scars that remain long after the races, Singapore kayaker Stephenie Chen also had to endure the anguish of missing out on an Olympic spot by less than a second - twice.
In a bid to banish those demons, the 32-year-old has been hard at work on the Gold Coast in Australia as she prepares for the April 1821 Asian canoe sprint Olympic qualifiers in Tokyo.
Two quota places - up from just one at the last qualifiers - are up for grabs as kayakers seek qualification for the Paris Games.
At the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Pattaya in May 2021, Chen missed out on a quota spot in the women's singles K1 500m by just 0.938 of a second. She was second in Imin 54.649sec, with the winner, Kazakhstan's Natalya Sergeyeva, clinching the sole spot.
It went even more agonisingly close a day later in the K1 200m, with a mere 0.067 sec standing between her and a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.
She was third in 40.325sec, behind Kazakhstan's Inna Klinova (40.123sec) and Japan's Yuka Ono (40.258sec). As Kazakhstan had already clinched an Olympic spot, Ono claimed the K1 200m quota spot.
この記事は The Straits Times の January 22, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は The Straits Times の January 22, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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