Lizzie Neave’s Olympic adventure is over after she narrowly missed out on a spot in the London 2012 canoe slalom final this afternoon. But the 25-year-old says she’ll learn from the experience and will be back stronger than ever at Rio in four years’ time.
After qualifying for the semi-finals as second quickest, Lizzie finished 12th today, with only the top 10 making the final. Six penalty points put paid to her medal hopes.
She said after the race: “I was confident going into the semi and I didn’t change my plan after the early errors. You have to be millimetres away from the gates to get the right lines. Slalom’s tough. It’s been an amazing experience, I’ve learnt so much but unfortunately I didn’t get the result I was after. Hopefully I’ll learn a lot from it and help me towards Rio in 2016.”
Stone was behind Lizzie all the way, with the Stafford and Stone clubhouse in Westbridge Park decorated in Union flags and a ‘Good Luck Lizzie’ banner. Another banner appeared this morning on the railings at the junction of Christchurch Way and Lichfield Street. Dozens and dozens of people also left good luck messages on this website and our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Lizzie did herself and Stone proud this week. Leave a comment below if you agree!
Bring on Rio 2016!
1 comment
Jon Cook
Well done Lizzie, you did the town proud. Looking forward to seeing you at Rio 2016!