Kayak: Australia’s fab four claim first gold

LONDON: Australia edged out two-time former champions Hungary to claim the four-man kayak gold medal in their first team title in the sport. Tate Smith, Dave Smith, Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear, who all work as beach lifeguards, steered their country to gold at the Eton Dorney course to the west of London. “Australia’s first gold in a team boat – that’s massive, but I’ll look at that history later,” said Smith. “We’ve struggled a bit. We’ve been close but it’s the Olympic Games and it’s so hard to win a medal, so to get this gold medal means everything to us.” Australia’s only other medal in the event was a bronze at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2012.