Labelled for much of his international career as slalom canoeing's "almost" man, Ian Wiley embarks on his latest World title campaign today lying third in the rankings and racing with a composure that has encouraged many to speculate on whether the Irishman can finally set the record straight in Brazil.
For the last decade Wiley has featured among the world's top five slalomists.
A silver medal from the recent World Cup Series and the timing of these championships so late in the year - the 29-year-old took the European crown at the end of last season - have, though, made Wiley a strong front runner this weekend.
Regarded as one of the leading technicians in the kayak, the prospects of the eight-times Irish champion will depend largely on the course designers. Wiley likens the relatively open Grade III stretch of the Rio Paranhana to a typical Wicklow river in flood.
"It's not very difficult water but there are opportunities to put in some tricky gates and I wouldn't be too surprised if Sunday's final comes down to hundredths of a second," Wiley said yesterday.
The news that canoe-slalom has been reinstated in the Sydney 2000 programme is expected to have a significant bearing on the future of Canadian canoeist Mike Corcoran. He picked up a shoulder injury at the start of the season and will consider his future after exploratory surgery next month.
The decision to race yesterday's C1 heat banked on Corcoran's straight line speed; the gambit failed with the lack of preparation soon evident. Six two-second penalties on the first run immediately dropped Corcorcan off the pace and despite a fast second attempt, two more brushes with the gate poles left him down in 34th place, a combined time of 2:86.80 and 19 seconds short of the final cut.
