French paddlers dominate on a day of wind and misshaps

Broken paddles, missing team members and strong winds couldn't stop strong French performances which included two World Championship titles for men's C1 and K1 teams in today's team event competition at the International Canoe Slalom World Championships at the Penrith Whitewater stadium.

French men's teams dominated, taking the K1 title in a time of 218.49 - almost 4 seconds clear of their nearest challengers, posting the fastest time despite accumulating 4 penalties.

The win saw Fabien Lefevre add a gold medal to the silver he won on Sunday in Individual competition.

C1 paddler Tony Estanguet was also able to improve on his individual standings with the French C1 team which edged out Germany by 0.43 seconds to post the fastest time of the day [229.47] and take France's third team medal.

France's second medal of the day came in the men's C2 race when their team won bronze after the Slovakian team was forced to withdraw after paddlers Peter and Pavol Hochschorner were forced out through injury.

The French team was able to capitalise on a lack of competitors and place third despite breaking a paddle and missing 13 gates. Clearer runs allowed German paddlers Christian Bahmann and Michael Senft to add to their individual gold medals with gold in the teams event with a time 12.72 seconds.

In the women's K1 team event, Czech paddlers edged out Great Britain after capitalising on a flawless first run. Austria's Julia Schmid led her team to third place after two missed gates denied another French podium finish.

Fluctuating wind conditions and broken equipment marred a day of competition which was also marked by notable absences.
Third place C1 paddler Michal Martikan withdrew to be with his wife who is about to have a baby, while New Zealand's Olivia Meehan still off the water after a shoulder injury.

Problems compounded for the Slovak teams with the women's K1 forced to withdraw midway through their second run after a team member also broke her paddle.

Penrith Whitewater Stadium
By Andrew Lasky
Infostrada Sports