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Doktor gets another chance to defend title Associated Press PENRITH, Australia -- The Doktor is in. Martin Doktor of the Czech Republic won an appeal Thursday and will get to defend his Olympic title in the finals of the men's 500-meter solo canoe event. The off-water ruling was the biggest news on the first of two days of semifinals. There were no U.S. boats competing, although four will be in action Friday. One American boat, the men's K-4 featuring Angel Perez, already has earned a spot in the finals. That quad is considered the United States' best chance to earn its first canoe-kayak sprint medal since 1992. Five International Canoe Federation officials held a hearing to determine whether Doktor violated a rule requiring paddlers to be at least five meters wide of all opponents. The race in question was a first-round heat Wednesday in which Doktor was second to Germany's Andreas Dittmer. Two judges watching the race from the water did not report a possible violation. Doktor's lane happened to be the only one that fell under the jurisdiction of both judges. The Germans protested immediately following the race and the competition committee agreed. The same panel dismissed a protest by Doktor, prompting him to appeal to the ICF jury. "While respecting the decision of the competition committee, the jury accepted the reports from the course umpires," jury president Ulrich Feldhoff said in a brief statement. "Given that no video evidence was permitted and the course umpires' decision clearly indicated uncertainty as to a breach of the five-meter rule, Martin Doktor has been reinstated." The Germans argued that Doktor drifted to the far left of his lane and rode Dittmer's wake. "Wake riding" enables paddlers to be sucked forward by the water, allowing the rider to exert less energy. For paddlers the caliber of Doktor and Dittmer, saving strength is more of a priority than winning in the first round because the top three finishers go to the finals. The order of finish only determines lane assignments. "We made protest because the five meters was not there," German coach Josef Capousek said. "Yesterday, everybody was with us. Now they are uh-uh-uh and he's in." The Germans got more bad news Thursday as Lutz Liwowski, the two-time world champion in the 1,000-meter K-1, was disqualified from the event for a false start. "I saw the video -- it was a wrong start," said Capousek, who did not appeal. "It was absolutely not necessary." Doktor won the men's C-1 500- and 1,000-meter titles in Atlanta and followed with world championships in the 500 in 1997 and '98. He was second in the 1,000 in '97 and '99. In the heat, Dittmer was in lane 4 and Doktor on his right in lane 5. If each lined up in the middle of his lane, the two would be nine meters apart. However, they were closer than that at the start because Dittmer, a right-handed paddler, preferred to be on the right side of the lane and Doktor, a lefty, opted to be on the left side. Rules required Doktor to monitor his distance to Dittmer instead of vice versa because the Czech was trailing. Dittmer and Doktor also finished first and second in an opening heat in the 1,000 meters Tuesday. The 1,000 finals are Saturday. The 500 finals are Sunday. Andreas Kiligkaridis of Greece was kicked out of the C-1 1,000 semifinals Thursday because of the five-meter rule. His protest was dismissed. The Czech Republic lost its two-man 1,000-meter kayak team for failing to turn in its boat for a postrace inspection. |  | ALSO SEE Reigning two-time Olympic champ disqualified for being too close Kayaker ask, 'Why just train when you can compete in Olympics?' Olympics don't end as well as they started for Meidl Penalty keeps USA's Shipley from winning sailing medal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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