Investment Fails for Shipley

Scott Shipley, ranked at or near the top of the world in kayaking for four years, had taken off from college for two of them to prepare for the Olympics, and for three races, it looked as though the work would pay off.

He won all three on the Oconee River course, but in the final, finished a disappointing 14th in the whitewater slalom. The winner, Oliver Fix of Germany, the 1995 world champion, had a quick, clean initial run of 2 minutes 21 seconds.

Slovenia’s Andraz Vehovar took the silver, and another German, Thomas Becker, won the bronze.

Horace Holden and Wayne Dickert, paddling the lone U.S. boat in the two-man canoe, finished 11th in a field of 15 that was led by Frank Adisson and Wilfred Forgues of France, who shaved 34 seconds off their initial run to pass nine teams and win the gold medal.

Adisson and Forgues pushed through the four-foot high rapids without a mistake on their second run.

Miroslav Simek and Jiri Rohan of the Czech Republic took the silver. Andre Ehrenberg and Michael Senft of Germany won the bronze.

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MEDALISTS / Canoe-Kayak

MEN’S KAYAK SINGLE SLALOM

Gold: Oliver Fix, Germany

Silver: Andraz Vnovar, Slovenia

Bronze: Thomas Becker, Germany

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MEN’S CANOE DOUBLE SLALOM

Gold: Addison-Forgues, France

Silver: Simek-Rohan, Czech. Rep.

Bronze: Ehrenberg-Senft, Germany