Fourth won’t cut it for Wood when Tokyo rolls around
JORDAN Wood is sick of coming fourth.
The 2016 Rio Olympian finished fourth in the K4 1000 four years ago but close won’t cut it anymore for the Gold Coast-based paddler.
“I feel like fourth is my most consistent result,” Wood said.
“Hopefully we can improve on that next year and move up but I feel like I’ve been around fourth for a while now.”
The 25-year-old son of Australian bronze Olympic medallists Steve and Anna first sat in a kayak when he was five years old but also balanced surf lifesaving and BMX riding growing up.
When he made his first uni“I versity kayak team, Wood decided to take the sport more seriously, which put him on the path to Rio.
Wood made his Olympic debut at Rio 2016, where he teamed with Jacob Clear, Riley Fitzsimmons and Ken Wallace in the K4 1000.
The crew went down fighting in the final to finish fourth behind Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
“I was pretty nervous before the race because Rio was such a different course to anything I’ve competed on,” Wood said.
“Being my first Olympics just added to it but I remember looking across after we crossed the line and was happy but also disappointed we missed out on a medal.
remember paddling back towards the Australian team and getting to jump the fence and seeing our friends and family in the stands.
“I’m not sure if we were actually allowed to but it was a good idea at the time and I got to see Alyce (wife and fellow Olympian) and all of her family.”
Now four years later, the
Gold Coast City Council lifeguard is determined to shake the nerves of his debut and make waves at sport’s highest level, albeit in 2021 after the Olympics were postponed.
“At your first Olympics, you don’t really know what you’re getting into but I’m excited to try and push for a better result,” he said.
“I was excited to get it done with this year because every race you do leads to the Olympics so for it to be postponed, I initially thought ‘damn’ but thinking more about it, it could be an advantage.
“We’ve got 16 extra months now to rest, refresh and hit the ground running.”
Tokyo will mark the first time Wood competes at the
Olympics as a married man, having tied the knot with fellow qualifier Alyce Wood (nee Burnett) last October.
The two have been cooking up a storm in isolation, kneading fresh pizza dough and cleaning their entire house during lockdown.
But Wood doesn’t expect the quality time to last.
“She ditches me and hangs out with Bully (teammate Alyssa Bull) more and I become the third wheel sometimes,” Wood joked.
“It’s definitely special that you get to enjoy such a special event with your wife and I don’t think it’s that common.”
Paddling to the Podium column with Alyce Wood: Friday’s Bulletin