New Zealand kayaker Ben Fouhy has apologised for a rant against New Zealand's canoeing system after he crashed out of the London Olympics.
Fouhy, a former world champion, had castigated SPARC for what he described as a lack of support in his build up to the Games.
Fouhy, the Athens silver medalist, missed out on a place in the final of the K1 1000m sprint.
The New Zealand kayaker needed to finish in the top four of his semi-final to progress, but crossed the line in a disappointing sixth place, with the 11th fastest time.
The race was won by Canada's Adam van Koeverden, who finished four seconds ahead of Fouhy.
After the race, Fouhy castigated the Sport New Zealand body for what he described as a lack of support coming into the Games, Reuters reports.
"You have a lot of detractors out there who like to kick you when you're down, but that's New Zealand for you. When I won the world title I'd spent all my savings and I was 10 grand in debt. They don't seem to mind that when you're winning but when you're not winning, all of a sudden you're a moaner."
The 33-year-old's career has been marked by clashes with sporting bodies over a range of issues including funding, coaching and the level of control he has over his own career.
He has quit the sport twice before.
New Zealand's K2 1000 kayak crew fared much better than Fouhy, with Steven Ferguson and Darryl Fitzgerald making it through to their final.
The New Zealanders finished third in their semi-final, two seconds behind the winners from Sweden.
A Slovakian crew won the other semi-final.
Ferguson says he and Fitzgerald were really happy with their races.
"Making the final is a huge weight off our shoulders. We paddled the heat with the aim of gaining a good lane draw going into the semi, and just paddled according to our plan throughout," he says.
Ferguson and Fitzgerald's time of 3:15.307 is the slowest time of the teams that have made the final, which will be raced on Wednesday.
