Olympic round up: canoeing, sailing, judo

The Swiss canoeist Sandra Friedli has paddled her way into the women's K1 slalom final, after qualifying in ninth place. Sailboarder Anja Käser also made a solid start to her Olympic campaign, but Lausanne judoist Isabelle Schmutz made an early exit

Friedli was well within the qualifying criteria for the individual kayak final, with 15 canoeists going through in total. The 25-year-old from Schaffhausen enjoyed an almost perfect first run, clipping only the penultimate gate for a two-second penalty.

Her second run saw Friedli commit no less than five errors although she said afterwards that she had been happier with her general timing.

European champion Elena Kaliska of Slovakia and the Czech Republic’s Stephanka Hilgertova finished qualifying in first and second place respectively and are expected to be the main contenders for the gold and silver medals. The final takes place on Monday.

In sailing, Anja Käser was consistent if somewhat unspectacular on her Olympic sailboarding debut. The 20-year-old ended the first day in 15th position following 15th and 16th place finishes in the opening two fleet races.

The sailboarding event takes the form of an 11-race series, and Käser believes she can improve in the days ahead.

“I am pretty happy with my performance,” she said. “But I should be about five places higher in the rankings.”

There was no joy in the judo for Switzerland, though. Twenty-four hours after David Moret’s early exit, Isabelle Schmutz also suffered defeat in her first fight.

Schmutz is renowned for her technical abilities but found herself unable to deal with the wild, aggressive style of Algeria’s Salima Souakri. “That’s not my type of fighting,” a disappointed Schmutz said afterwards. “I prefer to fight with some structure and I struggle against such wild attacks.”

After finishing on the podium in no less than five world tournaments this season, Schmutz had been tipped for an Olympic diploma at least. Her early departure is her second Olympic disappointment, following her exit at the same stage in Atlanta.

swissinfo with agencies