Hall uses medal to inspire others By AMIT SHILTON, SPECIAL TO SUN MEDIA

It has been less than a month since the end of the Olympics, but Thomas Hall's Olympic bronze medal is showing some wear.

Passed through hundreds of hands, the medal already is scuffed on its raised parts, the ribbon it hangs off of starting to fray.

MEDAL IS AWESOME

"I don't need to look at it to know what I've done," said Hall, who finished third in the C-1 1,000 metres at the Beijing Games. "The medal itself is awesome and beautiful but I think it does a lot more good if I pass it around rather than just keep it locked up in my room."

Since coming home, Hall has been using the medal as more than just a souvenir. Instead, he sees it as a tool to motivate and inspire kids to get in the water.

"I think there's nothing more important than instilling that belief of activity in children because we'll have problems if they don't."

Hall's podium finish in Beijing served as a cap to what was a breakthrough season.

The 26-year-old won gold at the Pan American Championships along with two races on the World Cup circuit. Last June, he beat Mark Oldershaw in Duisberg, Germany to grab a spot on the Canadian Olympic team.

For Hall, the medal is a symbol of that tough journey, but nothing more.

"I get it, it's wicked cool and I know other people see it very differently than I do and I guess I'll probably never see it like other people," he said. "To me it's just something I've done and I'm proud of but I don't think it's that incredible. It's something I worked hard to do and it happened."

In Beijing, Hall's C-1 1,000 metre race came about only 15 minutes after kayaker Adam van Koeverden took to the water in the men's K-1 1,000 metre contest. Favoured to medal in the race, van Koeverden finished a surprising eighth.

As van Koeverden's race was finishing up, Hall paddled to the starting line, unaware of what had just happened. He went on to have one of his best races, passing Uzbekistan's Vadim Menkov with about 100 metres to go to finish in the top three.

"I think a lot of the attention I'm getting is due to that. Because a lot of people mention they were upset after (van Koeverden's race) and felt really bad and his interview was really sad.

"And then I came out of nowhere and had a great race and was really happy," he said.

WRONG COLOUR

Hall is in Toronto to take in the Mazda CanoeKayak Knockout event at Marilyn Bell Park over the weekend.

Although he won't race in the event and doesn't plan to paddle for another week, he can't rest on his latest victory.

"I don't feel satisfied and there's no laurels to rest on in Canada," he said, adding that his eyes are already set on next year's world championships to be held in Dartmouth, N.S.

"My medal was a medal but the wrong colour," he said.