Slalom canoeist Ella Nicholas’ Olympic campaign is over after two brave runs saw her narrowly miss out on a place in the K1 semifinals set for Thursday.

With the top 15 slalom canoeists advancing to Thursday’s finals day, Nicholas came up short.

With the 15th fastest time in the opening heat followed by the 16th fastest in the second, Nicholas’ best score of 118.29 could only see her finish 18th overall to end her Olympic dream.

Ranked 83rd in the ICF rankings and 19th in the 21-strong field, Nicholas posted a first-round total of 118.69 that included four penalty points for touching two gates.

Despite the penalties the score was enough to put the Cook Islands’ sole direct qualifier in 15th position after the first round.

Nicholas knew she would need a quicker time to ensure she would progress and while she posted a slightly better score of 118.29, she dropped to 18th overall, nine points adrift of the final qualifier, New Zealander Luuka Jones.

Nicholas finished 19.54 points behind Spain’s Maialen Chourrault, who posted a sizzling 98.75 to top the field ahead of Thursday’s semifinals and final.

Nicholas was proud of her racing despite narrowly missing the final 15.

”I didn’t make semis but I did some paddling today that I am proud of,“ Nicholas said.

”It was such an awesome experience and I couldn’t stop smiling. Bring on Rio!“

Meanwhile, sailor Helema Williams will need to make plenty of progress if she is to advance to the medal round after finishing last and second-last in the opening two races of the women’s Laser Radial regatta at Weymouth and Portland.

Williams turned the first mark in 35th position but lost ground throughout the remaining four marks to finish the opening race in last position, almost five minutes behind Ireland’s Annalise Murphy, who won both races.

While Williams improved one spot to 40th in the second race, she was still some six seconds behind Murphy to share last place overall with Virgin Islands sailor Mayumi Roller at the end of day one.

Williams has eight more races spread across four days to try and make up some ground ahead of Monday’s medal race, which is exclusively for the top-10 sailors at the resumption of the five days of racing.

The Cook Islands’ flagbearer was understandably disappointed after a tough day on the water.

”Me and Lady Pearl have lots to work on for tomorrow,“ Williams said.

”Gotta [sic] get good timing on start, get the rhythm for downwind and we’ll be just fine!

”I can do this just gotta [sic] feel the rhythm and fly like the wind!“

Cook Islands’ swimmer Zachary Tepaia Payne is preparing for his participation in the 50m freestyle heats that start at 11pm on Wednesday night (CIT).

Team manager Romani Katoa said both Tepaia Payne and Celeste Brown were working hard.

”Tepaia and Celeste had an intense training session this morning as their build-up continues towards the end of the week when they compete in their respective 50m freestyle heats.“

Track sprinters Patrick Tuara and Patricia Taea are training at Olympic Park ahead of their preliminary races at the Mall at the end of the week.

Weightlifter Luisa Peters has also been getting stuck in ahead of her 75 kilogram-and-over competition next week, working specifically on the power snatch, clean pulls and front squats.

Josh Utanga then rounds up the Cook Islands’ Olympic involvement when he takes to the water in both the K1 1000 metres race before the smaller K1 200 metres race that start on August 6.