Winning on the Wild Water

“This sport is a lottery. You never know who will win,” whitewater kayaker Elena Kaliska said with a half-smile last Wednesday, still dripping wet after stepping out of her boat. Easy for her to say — she’d just hit the jackpot. The Slovak star had just rocketed down the maelstrom of a slalom course to win the women’s singles race ahead of Californian Rebecca Giddens. The American’s consolation: she was the only non-European to win one of the 12 medals up for grabs in the four whitewater races.

Slovakia and France divvied up the golds, two each. Twins Pavol and Peter Hochschorner, who grabbed Slovakia’s only gold four years ago, defended their canoeing doubles title. Frenchmen Tony Estanguet and Benoît Peschier won the men’s canoe and kayak singles, respectively.

The medalists weren’t the whitewater’s only winners. These Olympics have been derisively labeled the “Empty Games,” for the millions of unsold tickets and unfilled seats. But there were big crowds and a beach-party atmosphere at the fan-friendly Helliniko Olympic Complex. Mother Nature provided Aegean-blue skies, while the hosts put on a wildly varied soundtrack that included Zorba the Greek and, appropriately for the racers who got swamped by the frothing swells, Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping: “I get knocked down, but I get up again.”