Minsk Update – 28/06/2019

Irish canoeist Jenny Egan  finished just outside the medals in fourth place in the women’s  K1 5000m final at the European Games in Minsk today (June 27).

Egan had hoped to go at least one better than she did at the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015 where she also finished fourth.

Winner was home crowd hero, Maryna Litvinchuk of Belarus in 24 mins 52.258 secs, followed by Dora Bodonyi of Hungary in 24:53003 and Mariana Petrusova of Slovakia in 24:59.099. Egan’s time was 25:27.936.

The 5000m was  Egan’s third  race of the day,  finishing eighth in the B finals of  first the K1 500m and then the K1 500m coming earlier in the day. Not helping was a change for the worse in the weather with high winds and heavy rain.

“To come fourth again after coming fourth four years ago [in Baku] is tough. But I did my best out there,” said Egan after the race.

“There was thunder and lightning and wind but, you know, everyone had those conditions, everyone had to race in them. For me, it was probably better as there was less heat, but it was tough, there was a big head wind out there on the home straight. I gave it my all, fourth place is not bad, but it’s just tough when you miss out on the medals again.”

Ronan Foley in his first year as a senior  finished 16th in the men’s K1 5000m final, with a time of 23:16.064.

“It’s a bit of a heartbreaking end to a brilliant week of racing that was full of PBs,” Foley said. “I had a good start to today’s race, but it’s a field full of top guys and they’re all A performers out there – they’re as good as it gets.”