ROBERT HENDRICK BOOKED Ireland a place at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo with an 11th-place finish in the semi-finals at the Canoe Slalom World Championships in Spain.
The 21-year-old, competing in the C1 class, was first up on the course in La Seu, and was the last to qualify after watching his 29 rivals complete the course.
Ireland were ranked ninth of the 11 qualifying nations, with each nation only permitted one place in Tokyo.
Hendrick received a two-second penalty with 25 gates left, but finished in a time of 95.12 seconds, not enough to quality him for the final but enough to book the bigger prize of a ticket to Japan.
The Kildare native had never reached the semi-final stages at this level before. He is now in line to compete in Tokyo, although he sits behind Liam Jegou in the national rankings.
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