BEIJING, Aug 13: Austria’s Violetta Oblinger Peters, who only took up kayaking to keep an eye out for her younger brother, reached the Olympic white water kayak finals on Wednesday.

Oblinger Peters went against the advice of her father, German white water canoe world champion Wolfgang Peters, in taking up the sport.

“My family really didn’t want me to start kayaking,” Oblinger Peters said. “They know it’s a sport you have to be passionate about because you don’t get any money, it’s very expensive and it’s very hard work for very little return.

“I started despite my father because my younger brother started and I had this feeling that I had to take care of him,” world number seven Oblinger Peters said. “And I’m very happy with the choice.”

Oblinger Peters, who is married to four-time Olympian Helmut Oblinger, finished sixth in the preliminary runs to qualify for Thursday’s finals.

—Reuters