Irish canoeist Robert Hendrick books Olympics spot

Canoeist Robert Hendrick has secured a place for Ireland at next year's Olympics in the C1 category.

The 25-year-old was eliminated at the semi-final stage of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Waltham Cross, England on Friday morning but his overall ranking was good enough to ensure Irish representation in the event for Paris next year.

With the top 10 qualifying for the final, Hendrick was ranked 16th overall in the semi-finals with a total of 103.51, 5.42 off the leader.

Fellow Irish canoeist Liam Jegou finished 30th after incurring 152 penalty seconds.

Four years ago at the Slalom World Championships which were held in Spain, Hendrick qualified an Irish boat for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, although it was Jegou who ultimately competed at the Games after emerging top of the three-race criteria for selection.

Hendrick finished ahead of Jegou in Wednesday's first runs of the C1 heats, as they finished sixth and 12th respectively.