Olympic round up: Bachmann reaches second semi-final

Swiss canoeist Adrian Bachmann reached his second Sydney semi-final on Wednesday. There was disappointment though for Switzerland's dressage riders and divers, while bad weather blew away the day's sailing events.

Bachmann took the last qualifying place for the semi-finals of the men’s 500 metres kayak sprint, 24 hours after scraping into the semi-finals of the 1000 metres event – also in last place.

Switzerland’s dressage team managed to secure a diploma after coming seventh at the end of the two-day competition. The Swiss narrowly missed out on sixth place, after finishing just one point behind the hosts Australia.

A single point also denied Christine Stückelberger a place in the individual Grand Prix at what will be the 53-year-old’s last Olympic Games. Stückelberger, who has won five Olympic medals in an incredible career spanning seven Games, announced on Tuesday that Sydney would be her swansong.

Swiss champion Daniel Ramseier was the only member of the team to qualify for the individual discipline, after finishing in 19th place.

In the women’s three-metre diving heats, Catherine Maliev-Aviolat made a sorry exit from what will also be her last Olympics. Finishing 38th out of 43 participants, Maliev-Aviolat never looked likely to repeat the success she had in the synchronised diving competition, where she and partner Jacqueline Schneider finished eighth.

Schneider failed to make it even to the board in the individual competition after going down with a feverish cold. Her coach Roland Schuler said her decision not to take part in Wednesday’s event was completely understandable.

“She has spent the last three days in bed with a temperature of 39.6 degrees,” he explained. “There is absolutely no point participating if you are not suitably fit.”

The reason for Schneider’s cold might be found in the miserable weather that has plagued Sydney in recent days. As the bad conditions continued on Wednesday the organisers of the sailing events were forced to cancel a full day’s programme for the first time.

Switzerland’s Lukas Erni and Simon Brügger will complete their final race in the 470er class on Thursday if the weather improves.

swissinfo with agencies