Cameron Smedley and Michael Tayler qualify for Rio whitewater events
World Cup event continues through Sunday
Two Canadian slalom paddlers have secured their spots on the Canadian team for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Competing at a World Cup event in La Seu d'Urgell, Spain, Cameron Smedley and Michael Tayler, racing in heats Friday, accumulated enough points to assure their selection in their respective events for Canada in August.
"I am happy that I pulled it together on the second run and put down a quick time," said Smedley, who qualified for Saturday's semifinal in the Men's C1. "I'm pretty ecstatic to finally finish the selection process and win the Canadian C1 entry. I'm really looking forward to racing in Rio in August."
The Games will be Smedley's first. The 25-year-old Ottawa native won silver in the C1 at the Pan American Games last summer.
Tayler, who also lives in Ottawa, earned nomination to the team in the men's K1. The Rio Olympics will be his second, having finished 20th in the K1 at the 2012 Games.
Tayler, finished 48th Friday and did not advance to Saturday's semifinals, but his results on the World Cup season so far are enough to give him the selection over Ben Hayward.
The slalom World Cup event is being streamed live on CBCSports.ca Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 a.m. ET each day.
La Seu d'Urgell is a town in the Pyrenees only a few kilometres from the French border. It hosted to the whitewater canoe events at the 1992 Barcelona Games.