Friday 14th August, 2009
Overnight Cook Islands canoe sprinter Josh Utanga missed out on qualifying for the finals but was pretty happy to break the 4 minute barrier coming home in 3 minutes 59 seconds to finish 8th in his semi.
Even though he missed out on a finals spot Utanga had his own race plan, "I knew I was up against some pretty quick paddlers so I just set a goal to break the 4 minutes so that was my focus for the race and I managed to do it which was great."
The Gold Coast based Cook Islander has been happy with his achievements, "I wasn't really given a chance of getting out of the heats because I have only been in a sprint canoe for 10 weeks and was up against some season campaigners here so I guess I have exceeded my own expectations."
He has attracted interest from local media for his efforts being interviewed after his semi finals, “I have never been interviewed after a race before but I think it was good for the Cook Islands to be recognised. I even had a section of the crowd cheering for me which was a bit weird but nice".
Saturday 15th August, 2009, Utanga lines up for his final race of the competition in the Men's K1 200m heats.
Last Modified on 30/10/2009 13:25