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Adam van Koeverden gets set for third Olympic performance; is this his last?

Don Landry

Things have changed for Adam van Koeverden since he burst into the national psyche at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

An unknown then, he's a star now, and a familiar face that's expected by Canadians to do a familiar thing: Win. If not win, stand next to the winner, on the podium. He'll get a chance to do that, beginning Monday, when he takes part in the 1,000-metre kayak heats at the London Olympics.

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Another thing that has changed for van Koeverden: What was his specialty, the 500-metre kayak sprint, is no longer an event in the Olympics. It's a race in which he has won gold (2004) and silver (2008).

He'll have to make do with trying to nail down what has been elusive for him, at least at the Olympics, and that is to score the top of the podium in the 1,000. Van Koeverden, who recently made waves outside of his kayak when he lamented the lack of attention Canadian athletes get when the Olympics are not on, finished 8th in the event in Beijing. He fared much better back in 2004, when he added a 1,000 bronze medal to the gold he attained in the 500.

Expectations may be high - that's what comes with past successes and being a household name - but van Koeverden is not, at the age of 30, taking anything for granted. As he told Christie Blatchford of Postmedia:

"There's a difference between expectations and pressure. I deal fine with pressure. I don't, I haven't, dealt well with expectations … I'll call them ignorant expectations, and I'm not suggesting anybody's ignorant."

Van Koeverden was a 1,000 gold medallist at the World Championships in 2011 and he also struck gold in a World Cup event in Moscow, just this past June.

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He remains among the favourites to hit the podium once again, though he is certain of nothing, in his mind. Again, from Postmedia:

"I've had lots of great races in the last 12 months, but I don't deserve a medal more than somebody else just because I raced a couple of races better than some other guy. We're here to race. I'm inspired to compete and inspired to bring my best on the day, and forget about what happened two months ago and eight months ago and 12 months ago."

After three Olympics and hitting the big three-oh, it's only natural that people would begin to suppose a thing or two about van Koeverden's future. The number one supposition might be that this would be his last Olympics. Although he doesn't rule that out, it sounds like, right now, he's leaning more towards another row in Rio in four years rather than retiring. He tells the Globe And Mail:

"I'll always do sports and I'll always be an athlete, but... I need a really good pull factor to get me to leave my sport. Something outside to attract me to. To inspire me to do something different. Maybe a family. Maybe work. I don't know."

"But I'm kind of racing every race like it might be my last now just because I know there's more racing behind me than in front, that's for sure. I can't race another 17 years. I think I'll be a grandfather or something."

Well, with the kind of determination van Koeverden's always shown throughout his athletic career, I wouldn't bet against him being a kayaking grandpa at the Olympics in the future.

Would you?

More London Olympics coverage on Yahoo! Canada Sports:
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• Ryan Cochrane, Karen Cockburn were not robbed
• Olympic officials crush the dreams of Canadian equestrian