CANOEING:Eoin Rheinisch ensured Ireland will have at least one canoeist at the Beijing Olympics when he qualified his K1 (kayak) at the Slalom World Championships in Brazil on Saturday, reports Liam Gorman.

The 27-year-old Dubliner, who represented Ireland in Athens in 2004 and reached eighth in the world rankings last year, finished 17th in Brazil.

This was not enough to give him a final place, but qualified the boat for Beijing. The Ireland team of Rheinisch, Neil Caffrey and Ciaran Heurteau finished ninth overall.

Ireland's two women competitors, Hannah Craig and Helen Barnes, failed to make it out of the heats and hopes of a place for a women's boat in the Olympics now rest on securing a high placing at next May's European Championships in Poland.

Rheinisch will only be guaranteed a place at the Olympics if he proves himself the best Irishman in his event next season.