Joe Clarke MBE became Kayak Cross European Champion as Nikita Setchell won her first senior medal on day two of the slalom European Championships in Tacen, Slovenia.
Clarke's gold medal is his first in a kayak cross European event, as the three-time World Champion builds on his prolific history in the new Olympic discipline making its debut at Paris 2024.
The Stafford and Stone athlete battled well through the men's head to head rounds, before lining up in a stacked final.
Clarke saved his best run of the day for the final, as he tackled the challenging Tacen start to get ahead of the pack.
From there, he perfected the two upstream gates to ensure the remainder of the field couldn't gain any ground on him, as he crossed the line first to claim his first medal of the 2024 season.
Delighted to take his first win as he prepares for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Clarke said:
“It's a great start to the season for me, with the Europeans a big stepping stone towards the Paris 2024 Games for me.
“The European Championships is one I was missing from the medal cabinet so I'm really happy to get the gold medal
“The start being where it was always meant carnage was possible to kick off. It was hard to know how things were going to pan out and take the racing that was in front of you.
“We had a change in schedule last minute but you can't control nature. Time-trial was good yesterday and just missed out on the medal.
“To come back today and be crowned European Champion in the head to head which is the medal event of the Games is huge.
“It's a great way to start the season.”
Two-time U23 World Champion, Setchell (Holme Pierrepont) won a fantastic bronze in the women's head to head final.
There was a lot of switching positions for Setchell as she found herself fourth at various points in the race.
Fantastic composure from the Nottingham paddler ensured she kept herself in the fight, and leapfrogged Horn (Italy) after the roll-zone to get into third spot and take the bronze medal.
Delighted to win her first senior medal, Setchell said:
“I'm so happy. I feel like it's been a while coming, after slightly missing out in the Paris World Cup last season. It's brilliant to get on the podium.
“It's great to pull it out the bag on the day and win my first senior medal. I've medalled at U23 level but to make the step up is huge and hopefully I'm setting a standard for my season.
“There's a nervousness at the start as nobody wants to finish fourth in the final, but I believed in myself.
“I had to battle to the last gate and it's always a fight to the end. I looked out of it before the roll, but I kept pushing and I came out with the medal.”
After winning silver in the kayak cross individual ,Jonny Dickson (CR Cats) was unlucky not to join Clarke in the final.
Progressing nicely through the quarter-finals, Dickson was placed second heading into the second upstream, but was pushed out by Boris Neveu which took him out the top two needed to progress.
An updated schedule and results from the week of racing is available here