Kayak cross delivers two medals and plenty of drama

Canoe Slalom 05 Aug 24

Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods claimed kayak cross medals within minutes of each other as the chaotic discipline made its Olympic bow in fine fashion.

Woods and Clarke, who are the reigning women’s and men’s world champions, had breezed through Monday’s quarter- and semi-finals, but nothing is certain in kayak cross.

The women’s final went off first with Kimberley Woods battling for her second bronze of the Games before Clarke claimed a composed silver.

Kayak cross sees four paddlers per race, and they are dropped from a starting gate into the whirling white water course.

From there, they must paddle their way down, making sure to go the right way around inflatable gates and also perform an Eskimo roll.

The Eskimo roll sees the paddlers spin to their side, go upside down and back upright before passing under a barrier.

This was the skill that saw Team GB’s Mallory Franklin disqualified from her quarter-final for not rolling early enough.

Clarke’s silver marks something of a redemption as the 2016 Rio gold medallist put his missed selection for Tokyo behind him.

More disappointment had come in the K1 with a fifth-place finish before he made amends with a silver in the final event of the canoe slalom.

A great start had helped Clarke power through the qualifying rounds but he found himself behind Finn Butcher of New Zealand.

From there it was all about remaining calm and ensuring himself a medal which he duly did with silver, eight years on from his first Olympic medal.

"How the final panned out with Noah [Hegge] coming into my lane kind of left me behind with a lot of work to do so silver feels like a win with the hand I was dealt in that final," he said.

"I'll be honest, I came into this event wanting to win gold and that didn't happen today but I'm not disappointed in any way.

"A silver medal for Team GB is absolutely massive and I'm very proud of myself."

Woods was always chasing Australia’s Noemie Fox, sister of K1 and C1 champion Jess, before getting caught at a gate as she attempted to go for gold rather than almost guarantee a silver.

It looked as if the gamble had not paid off for the K1 bronze medallist from earlier in the Games and seemed that she would have to settle for fourth.

However, Germany’s Elena Lilik was disqualified for not correctly going through gate two to spark celebrations on the finish line for Woods.

“I thought I was fourth but I guess luck was on my side today," she said.

"I’m really proud that I came away with another bronze medal. I had to congratulate Noemie straight away because we’re all on this journey together.

"We’re all really good friends and it’s amazing to see people you enjoy paddling with take medals."

Those two medals mean that Team GB end the Games with a collective four canoe slalom medals, after Woods’ K1 bronze and Adam Burgess’ silver in the men’s C1, their best-ever Olympic haul.

Sportsbeat 2024

Tags