Kayak Racer Bailed Out; Dream Alive Olympic Favorite From State Comes To Rescue After Bosnian Sees His Patched-Up Boat Sink

Samir Karabasic arrived at the Ocoee River with a used kayak patched with duct tape and a mission: Represent Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Olympic whitewater slalom.

He overcame disease and war to reach the gate-filled river course in Southeast Tennessee, determined to be his country’s sole paddler in the Olympics.

He made it, but his kayak didn’t. On a practice run this week, Karabasid hit a rock. His boat fell apart and sank.

But his Olympic dreams are afloat by the goodwill and sportsmanship the Games are supposed to foster. U.S. kayaker Scott Shipley gave him his boat.

Not just any boat. It’s the same custom-designed kayak Shipley, from Poulsbo, Wash., used when he won the World Cup and U.S. team trials this spring. It’s made by Dagger of Harriman, Tenn., a premiere builder of whitewater racers.

“It’s beautiful to get a boat from the World Cup winner and probably the Olympic winner,” Karabasic said Friday through an interpreter. “Possibly, it will bring me good luck.”

Shipley, the only kayaker to win every race on the Ocoee Olympic course, is favored to win the gold medal during competition July 27-28.

He read a newspaper article about Karabasic’s struggle to get to the Games, and “it touched me.”

“I would just hate to be at the crux of my career and go to an Olympic Games and have my boat fall apart,” said Shipley, who is sponsored by three companies, including Dagger.

Shipley, 25, began with one boat, a $10,000 income and once lived in a tree house while training. That doesn’t compare, he said, to what Karabasic endured for their sport.

“Last year, (Karabasic) raced in the World Cup, and he had to sign a liability release to get a helicopter ride to get over a war zone,” Shipley said. “I can’t imagine. It made me feel so lucky.”

Two months later, while Karabasic trained on the Alpine rivers of Slovenia, the helicopter he had used was shot down by the Serbs, killing the Bosnian foreign minister.

The fighting made training impossible for Karabasic for the past four years. He was drafted into the Bosnian Army and placed into Special Forces because of his knowledge of the country’s rivers, which he has paddled since he was 10.

Another difficulty was that the Una River, where he trains, formed part of the front line between Bosnian Serb and Bosnian government forces. And for six months, Karabasic was bedridden with hepatitis.

But last summer, Karabasic, 29, got a special release from the Army so he could compete in Nottingham, England, in the world championships, where he qualified for the Olympics by placing 73rd out of 195 competitors.

A month later, he traveled to the Ocoee for a pre-Olympic race, where he placed 23rd. He wants to place in the top 20 at the Games, but if he doesn’t, he is still proud.

“The goal is already achieved to get here,” said Karabasic, one of only eight athletes from his country to compete in the Olympic games. “Winning and losing doesn’t matter. To represent my country on an international level and show we are strong is enough.”