TWO late mistakes in the final section of the course cost Ballyvaughan’s Liam Jegou dearly denying him a place in the C1 canoe slalom final.
Jegou missed two gates in the latter stages of his semi-final costing him a total of a 100-second penalty, giving him a time of 208.39.
Speaking afterwards to RTE, Jegou said that he had been confident and comfortable coming into the final section of the course.
“Maybe I let go a little bit mentally towards the end,” he said.
“You’re always a touch away [from a penalty]. Too much weight on your left knee and it’s game over and that is what happened today.”
'I'm gutted, I'd done all the hard work. I don't know what to say'. @LiamJegou struggles to explain what went wrong in canoe slalom semi-final. Speaking to @joestack_ky #olympics #tokyo20200 #RTESport
📺 Watch live – https://t.co/b2OI4OoWVJ
📱 Updates – https://t.co/Oim1X2bjyR pic.twitter.com/ke48K6uEmJ— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 26, 2021
“Everything was going to plan, I was enjoying myself, felt really powerful.
“And then towards the end on one of the easier moves I just clipped the pole with my paddle and went the wrong way with my head and it’s game over. And that’s how fine the margins are in sport and canoe slalom especially.
“I felt great the whole run, I felt great in the starting blocks, I was doing what I intended to do and that’s really hard in slalom. I guess maybe I lost a bit of focus towards the end, I’m not sure why, I’ll have to have some time to reflect on it but I couldn’t tell you now honesty.
The last move, maybe I had the final in my mind and you can’t be doing that.”
Jegou concluded by paying tribute to his family friends and well wishers, “I want to say a massive thank you to everyone back home, the Sheridans, Egans Jegous, were brillint to me.
“People I didn’t know in Ballyvaughan, I swear I got a message from everybody I’ve ever known in my life, it’s really heartwarming”