Emma Wiggs MBE won an incredible eleventh world title as Hope Gordon won her maiden gold in a world's best time, with Jonny Young picking up silver at the ICF Paracanoe & Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg, Germany.
Ten years on from her first World title, Emma clocked up number 11 on the same course she did in 2013.
On a day disrupted by storms, the finals session was moved three times, but with a decade of world titles behind her, Wiggs stormed to victory once again in 57.100.
“I won my first title here in 2013. It’s just a bit unbelievable that I’m still here. It's credit to the team and the phenomenal set up we've got and the staff team. I might be getting on a bit but I'm just so proud to be part of this group and add value to it and I'm pleased to be able to do that.
“I couldn't do any of this without my family, I wouldn't be the person I am without them. It was all about the quota spot, I've really struggled with my confidence this year and I just wasn't expecting to be able to deliver a run like that and it wasn't perfect so I know I have more to do but I kinda like that and will keep the coaches busy for a while yet.
“This one is for my roommate Jeannette, she couldn't race this year, she's had a tough year so this is for her.”
Emma will return to the regatta tomorrow in the final of the KL2 200m.
Hope put down a lifetime best to claim the gold medal and a Paris quota place for Great Britain in the women’s VL3 200m – a new event for the 2024 Paralympic Games.
The Scot dominated the race from the bucket, and by the halfway mark was starting to pull away. She crossed the line in 56.199 and was delighted with her win.
“World Champion” sounds pretty good. It was a good race there and I was really happy that I delivered.
“Everyone in the team has an individual job to do and mine was to book that boat, so to do that by winning is amazing. I've not had the smoothest run into this competition picking up a bit of a back injury a few weeks ago so to be here and compete is amazing given how I felt three weeks ago.
“It's amazing to have my family here and it's such a cool venue. The weather has got a bit cooler which is great for me. It's a great venue and great competition.”
Jonny Young secured a hat-trick of medals for the Brits, finishing second in the men's KL3 in 40.200
Young, who returned to the podium winning bronze at the European Championships in 2022 in Munich, marked his return to form going one better this time round winning silver- also securing Great Britain a spot in Paris next year.
He said: “Yeah it's good, we all wanted to stand on the top step obviously but any medal out here in this competition is class. These guys are brilliant racers and we shared the podium last year at Euros in Munich, that’s not the same as worlds but you can see what it means to everyone it's a big deal.
“I've been putting the work in for 10 years and I've been on every step of the podium. I do it because I like it, it's a fun sport and it’s a long way from where it was when I started the sport. When it doesn't go well you want to keep going because you know you're better than that and when it does go well you know you want to do it because you want a little bit more.”
Leamington Spa's Jon Tarrant finished fifth in the B Final of the same event in 43.362 to finish in 14th place overall on his World Championships debut.
Dave Phillipson won the B final of the Men's KL2 200m final in 43.263. Having narrowly missed a spot in the A final, he came back fighting to take the win and finish in 10th place overall.
It was heartbreak for the women's K4 500 crew. In the toughest of the two semi-finals, the crew of Deborah Kerr (Anker Valley), Emily Lewis (Worcester), Emma Russell (Chelmsford) and Rebii Simon (Elmbridge) finished in fifth place in the semi-final this morning and narrowly missed qualification to the A final.
But the quartet showed admirable grit to come back fighting in the B Final where they finished in second place, 11th overall in 01:34.419.
Tom Lusty raced in the B Final of the men's K1 500m after finishing fourth in his semi-final this morning.
He was third in 01:41.367 and finished in 12th place overall.
Finally, Izzy Evans put everything she had into her semi-final of the C1 200m. She pushed hard throughout before ultimately finishing in 8th place.
The racing resumes tomorrow morning and can be followed on Recast.