A last-second thrust at the finish line allowed the Canadians to qualify this morning at about 4:40 a.m. Mississauga time in the semi-final of their event at the Beijing Olympics.
The final canoe and kayak race of the day saw the Canadian quartet of Pellini, Brady Reardon of Burlington, and Angus Mortimer and Rhys Hill of Ottawa, edge out the Australian team for a spot in the racing final with a time of 3:02.572 minutes.
The Russian team led the race from start to finish. China was second. The other finalists who directly qualified from the preliminary heats are Belarus, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovenia.
The finals take place in the wee small hours of the morning, Mississauga time, on Friday at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
"We knew it was going to be a big deal for us to make the final," 22-year-old Hill told canoe.ca after the race. "We're really excited about it. It's a huge deal for us. We haven't even caught our breath yet."
"I'm super happy with the race," added Mortimer, 23. "After our heat, (where they finished fourth and last but still advanced) we were kind of wondering what was up and if we were going to be able to compete, but we really turned it around for the semis. I'm really, really happy, for sure."
Pellini, 24, paddles with the Burloak Canoe Club. A graduate of McMaster university in biology, he won a silver medal last year at the Pan Am Games and took home five gold medals from the 2005 Canadian canoeing championships.
jstewart@mississauga.net
