Kaliska top in semi-final of Women's K1, Aussies dip out.

Elena Kaliska of Slovakia powered her way into first position in the semi-final of the Women's K1 at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships this Saturday.

In perfect weather conditions the current Olympic champion had a flawless performance, finishing with a time of 109 sec, making a huge dent on Jennifer Bongardt's time of 115sec, which reigned for majority of the competition.

Kaliska's performance was closely followed by Mandy Planert (GER), and the current world number one and two time Olympic Gold medalist Stepanka Hilgertova (CZE), who both came in less than a second behind. The remaining qualifiers all came in below 117 sec, making for an exciting final this afternoon.

The course proved more difficult for other competitors, particularly throughout the middle section at gates 8-11 and in the bottom section between gates 18-20, where most of the days penalties were incurred.

The Austraian women had a disappointing afternoon despite solid performances, with Katrina Lawrence and Victoria Milne narrowly missing out on positions in the top ten qualifying times, finishing at 11th and 13th place respectively.

Teammate Louise Natoli suffered a devastating finish after a performance that would otherwise have left her with a top ten place, missing the last gate and having to recirculate, eventually finishing in 24th position.

By Jessica Boyden
Infostrada Sports