Ian Ferguson MBE is New Zealand's second most successful Olympian. He won four Olympic gold medals competing in K1, K2, and K4 kayak events, and attended five Summer Olympics between 1976 and 1992. He also won two canoe sprint world championship titles.

With Canoe Racing New Zealand defending the decision to have a C2 500m crew at the Paris Olympics, after the boat finished almost a minute adrift of the rest of the field Simon Barnett and James Daniels sought Ian Ferguson's opinion on the matter.

In scenes that reminded of ‘Eric the Eel’ at the Sydney Olympics, or ‘Eddie the Eagle’ at the Winter Games of 1988, the Kiwi combination of Max Brown and Grant Clancy – who have only been learning the discipline for three months – trailed the field by more than 50m at the finish. and were still on the course when other crews were heading back to the jetty.

While their efforts attracted generous, sympathetic applause in the grandstands, it also raised some eyebrows with fans and media alike at the venue.

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