World champions Joe Clarke of Great Britain and Veronika Vojtova of the Czech Republic showed they are still the athletes to catch after winning kayak cross gold on the final day of the International Canoe Federation world cup in Slovenia on Sunday.

Clarke is a two-time world champion, having won in Bratislava in 2021 and again in Augsburg last year. He showed his love for the new Olympic discipline with another strong performance on the Tacen Whitewater Course on Sunday.

“It was a really good day, tough in a couple of the rounds, it’s always tough, so to come out on top is really fantastic,” Clarke said.

“I wasn’t supposed to be doing this World Cup, I decided to do it last minute. It’s Father’s Day back in the UK, so I’m missing my wife and son terribly.

“This makes it all worthwhile, the last race before we depart from the international circuit for a little bit. I think that was a really good final to watch, kayak cross at its best.”

Clarke took the gold ahead of Frenchman Anatole Delassus, with Germany’s Stefan Hengst third. It was the exact same podium from last year’s world titles.

Covid and a lack of team opportunities has conspired to keep Czech Veronika Vojtova away from international competition since she became the women’s kayak cross world champion in 2019. On Sunday she showed she has lost none of her ability, or her tactical edge, to take another gold.

“It’s amazing because it’s a new change for me, I’m so happy that I can start in the world cups and the world championships,” Vojtova said.

“I like kayak cross, but it was hard after the canoe slalom because I don’t have any energy left. It’s especially hard for the final, because we don’t have a long break before the race.

Slovenia’s Eva Tercelj gave the big home crowd reasons to get excited by taking the silver medal, while reigning world champion Jessica Fox took the bronze.

The ICF World Cup season will take a break now, returning for world cup 4 in La Seu, Spain, at the end of August.

RESULTS

WOMEN’S KAYAK CROSS

1. VOJTOVA Veronika (CZE)
2. TERCELJ Eva (SLO)
3. FOX Jessica (AUS)

MEN’S KAYAK CROSS

1. CLARKE Joseph     (GBR)
2. DELASSUS Anatole (FRA)
3. HENGST Stefan (GER)   

Na tekmovanju svetovnega pokala v slalomu na divjih vodah v Tacnu so danes kot zadnjo tekmo izvedli kajakaški kros, novo olimpijsko disciplino. Med ženskami je zmagala Veronika Vojtova iz Češke, Eva Terčelj je bila druga. Med moškimi se je zlate medalje razveselil Britanec Joseph Clark.

Kajakaški kros, ki bo prvič na sporedu olimpijskih iger prihodnje leto v Parizu, je atraktivno tekmovanje na izpadanje. Izmed četverice slovenskih deklet, ki so se vse uspešno uvrstile v kvalifikacijske skupine, se je Evi Terčelj uspelo prebiti vse do finala. Tam je bila hitrejša od nje le Čehinja.

“Vsako rundo se moraš znova pripraviti in nekako sem uspešno sprejemala odločitve in taktično napadala, tako da sem res zelo zadovoljna, da mi je uspelo priti do finala,” se je Eva Terčelj s srebrno medaljo okoli vratu spomnila na napredovanje od izločilnih bojev prek četrtfinala in polfinala do končnega spopada najboljših štirih. “V finalu sem si pa rekla – če sem že tako daleč, pa res brez medalje ne grem domov,” je dodala.

Kajakaški kros je povsem drugačna disciplina kot denimo kajak, ki ga je v soboto po nesrečnem dotiku vratc končala na petem mestu. “Hkrati so na eni progi štiri tekmovalke, kar lahko primerjamo s smučarskim krosom, glavna razlika pa so vratca, ki so drugačna, tu gre za kontakten šport,” je še povedala.

Za Slovenko je na tretjem mestu zaostala Avstralka Jessica Fox, zmagovalka sobotne tekme v kajaku.

Naja Pinterič je izpadla v četrtfinalu in bila na koncu 12., Ajda Novak in Eva Alina Hočevar pa vsaka v svoji skupini že v prvem krogu.

V moški konkurenci je drugo mesto pripadlo Francozu Anatolu Delassusu, tretje pa Nemcu Stefanu Hengstu.

Kot edini Slovenec se je v izločilne boje uvrstil Vid Kuder Marušič, ki je izpadel v četrtfinalu in zasedel končno 15. mesto. V kvalifikacijskih vožnjah na čas sta veslala še Tine Kancler in Žiga Lin Hočevar, ki pa se jima ni uspelo prebiti v izločilne boje.

The two biggest names in world canoe slalom paddling in 2023 once again underlined their class with gold-medal winning performances on day two of finals at the International Canoe Federation World Cup in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Saturday.

Australia’s Jessica Fox won an incredible fourth gold medal for the season with victory in the women’s K1, while Czech Jiri Prskavec won his second gold for 2023 with a win in the men’s K1.

There was also a second silver medal for the weekend for Ukraine’s Viktoriia Us, and a bronze medal to follow on from yesterday’s gold medal for Germany’s Elena Lilik.

But it was the three-time Olympian Fox who once again stole the show, bouncing back from a disappointing C1 final on Friday to lock away back-to-back K1 gold medals. It also continued Fox’s love affair with the Tacen course, where she has won gold every time she has raced there since 2013.

The Tokyo C1 gold medalist said she is looking forward to a break.

“I think I have a kind of love-hate relationship with Tacen,” Fox said.

“I can’t be mad at the course today, but I definitely was feeling it yesterday. It’s definitely been amazing to come back and race here, the crowds are always really great to be in front of, and the course is always challenging.

“We’ve had three weeks of back-to-back racing, which is quite tough, physically demanding and mentally taxing. This new program is pretty challenging because there are no rest days, so I’m looking to a few days off.

Fox finished in 96.22, well clear of US on a time of 98.91, with Lilik just 0.01 seconds back in third.

The women’s event was not without drama. Reigning Olympic champion Ricarda Funk had a run she would rather forget, not progressing to the final, while Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska posted the quickest raw time of 95.06 in the final, but had two gate touches and four seconds of penalties to drop down to fourth.

Jiri Prskavec had never won a world cup gold medal outside his Prague home course before breaking through in Tacen last year. On Saturday he showed the connection with one of the most challenging courses on the ICF world circuit remained, finishing more than four seconds clear of teammate Vit Prindis.

“Last year I was saying this was only once in a lifetime to get such a good run in Tacen, and now it is for the second time, so it’s twice in a lifetime,” Prskavec said.

“It’s been a really nice start to the season. In my final I just flew through and jumped on a really good wave and kept it until the end pretty much, so I was really happy about my run.”

It’s back-to-back gold medals for Prskavec after his K1 win in Prague last weekend, and he also has a C1 bronze in his debut season in the canoe.

Prindis had a two second penalty for a gate touch, but his raw time was still 2.44 seconds behind the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist. Austria’s Felix Oschmautz won the bronze.

The men’s and women’s kayak cross will wrap up the third world cup on Sunday.

RESULTS

WOMEN’S K1

1. FOX Jessica  (AUS) 96.22 (0 seconds in penalties)
2. US Viktoriia (UKR) 98.91 (0)
3. LILIK Elena   (GER) 98.92 (0)

MEN’S K1

1. PRSKAVEC Jiri          (CZE) 85.02 (0)
2. PRINDIS Vit              (CZE) 89.46 (0)
3. OSCHMAUTZ Felix (AUT) 90.05 (0)

Exclusive coverage of all the racing can be found on the ICF’s Recast platform.

Find out more about the venue here.

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