12:00a.m. 22nd August 2008

Sunshine Coast kayak great Clint Robinson revealed his much-vaunted K4 crew cracked under the pressure and commotion of the Olympic Games as his glittering career came to a sad end.

Robinson bowed out yesterday as he and K2 500m partner Jake Clear failed to produce the semi-final boilover they needed to extend the 36-year-old’s Games swansong two more days.

The writing was on the wall after the last-placed finish of his K4 1000m crew yesterday, a failure which the 36-year-old believed was due to the “massive wheel” of the Games which “churned around” and spat out his fellow paddlers.

Robinson and Clear were never considered strong hopes for the K2 final and they finished over a boat length behind the leaders in seventh at Shunyi Park.

It brought the curtain down on a career which reaped a medal of every colour over five Games campaigns but it was the performance of his four-man kayak which left the major disappointment.

After praising the effort and improvement of young Gold Coaster Clear, Robinson revealed how he believed the Olympic experience undermined the medal hopes of his K4 1000m boat.

The crew of Robinson, David Smith, Tate Smith and Tony Schumacher finished a shock 10th of the 10 boats entered, just two months after they took silver and bronze medals on the World Cup circuit in Europe. Robinson said the first signs of a major problem came when the boat, which relies heavily on balance, felt uncomfortable in the water a week ago.

“We got here and paddled down the course twice, the most uncomfortable I’ve ever paddled in a K4,” he said last night. “It’s like trying to put a shoe on that’s three inches taller than the other and try and run fast.”

He put his finger on one reason for the failure.

“The Olympic Games came along, and that’s all I’m going to say about it because there’s nothing really sinister in it and there’s nothing really majorly wrong, it came along and it taught everyone a few lessons,” he said.

“(Pressure) and distractions and other people in other events and expectations and everything. It’s a massive wheel when you’re in the middle of it getting churned around.

“The boys are going to be a little bit more broadened after this experience.”

Of the nine Australian canoe/kayaks competing in Beijing, only four – Ken Wallace in the K1 500 and 1000m, the women’s K2 500m and K4 500m – made Friday and Saturday finals.

Robinson is now keen to keep his hand in the sport and is determined to help improve performances for London 2012.