A tenth world title for Charlotte Henshaw MBE kicked off another medal haul for GB, as Laura Sugar and Hope Gordon claimed a 1-2 at the Paracanoe World Championships. Emily Lewis rounded off with an impressive World Cup bronze in the sprint.
A competition personal best from Ed Clifton (Chelmsford) in the men's VL2 also secured the crucial final quota spot for Britain ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Clifton's achievement means GB have nine boat quota places confirmed for this summer's Paralympics.
Henshaw, who came into the race with the VL3 world title already banked, was back in KL2 action looking to secure her tenth world title since joining the sport in 2017.
The former para-swimmer delivered a compelling performance, as she burst out the bucket against the changeable conditions to get ahead of local-favourite Katalin Varga and win the gold in a time of 48.79
Rio 2016 Paralympic Champion Emma Wiggs MBE was due to join Henshaw in the KL2 final, but sadly had to withdraw from the race this morning on medical grounds.
Speaking of her tenth world title, Henshaw said:
“I'm delighted to win the KL2 world title.
“When I joined paracanoe, I never thought I'd get ten World Championship golds.
“I knew I was coming into a competitive squad, so to get a place on the team was certainly not a given, despite already coming from para-sport.
“I wanted a new challenge and I knew I still had the love for Paralympic sport. I'm so grateful I've found a sport I love and it keeps challenging me at 37.
“I still want to get bigger, stronger and better.”
Reigning Paralympic Champion Laura Sugar retained her women's KL3 title as she went head to head with compatriot Hope Gordon in the final.
The pair both got off to great starts to get clear of the field, with France's Nelia Barbosa the nearest challenger.
Pushing each other all the way, it was Sugar who was edging it throughout, before crossing the line ahead of her teammate in 45.97 to win her fourth World Championship gold.
She said:
“I feel amazing. That was a hard race and I didn't have the best start. I had to really fight and dig in deep there.
“I'm really happy to be racing and excited to see the fighter in me come out there to win that gold.
“To have Hope next to me on the podium again is a credit to her and this great British team.”
Gordon was just under a second behind, as she secured her second silver of the World Championships following her women's VL3 success, whilst this marks her first World Championship medal in the kayak since 2021.
“I've been trying to get back on the podium in kayak after a couple of years finishing fourth consistently.
“My coach (Matt) and I have been joking about finishing bronze or fifth, anything to avoid fourth. But I'm delighted to win a silver medal after a busy week.
“Podium in both boats is a great way to round off.”
In the canoe sprint World Cup, Emily Lewis (Worcester) produced an amazing display to win women's K1 200m bronze in a too close to call final.
In the canoe sprint World Cup, Emily Lewis (Worcester) delivered a remarkable display, securing women's K1 200m bronze in a fiercely contested final that was too close to call.
Lewis, who finished top two in her heats and semi-finals, burst out the start-bucket to set her intentions for the final, before digging deep in the final metres to maintain a podium finish, clocking in at 40.38.
“I'm really happy. I had no idea where I'd finished when I crossed the line. I had a couple of people tell me at boat control but I needed to see it written down to believe it.
“I've worked hard to get here. It's great to come away with a medal and keep doing my best each race.
“The 200m isn't as highly contested as before, but the two other medallists were on the K4 podium this weekend, so it makes me feel like I'm in a great place and the hard work is paying off.”
Lewis was back on the water for the 500m, where she finished fourth to set up her semi-final tomorrow morning.
An emphatic performance from Ed Clifton (Chelmsford) saw him win the B Final of the men's VL2.
Previously missing out on the A Final by 0.008 seconds, Ed came out fighting, going on to beat his nearest challenger by nearly two seconds.
The result confirmed Clifton has qualified Britain the men's VL2 boat quota for the summer's Paralympics, meaning Britain's world-leading paracanoe team have qualified a full quota of boats available to the team for Paris 2024.
He said:
“Really happy to win that B Final. I followed my plan well and got the job done that I needed to do today.
“There were a few more nerves for this one with a lot more riding on the result.
“Qualifying the final British quota place for the Paralympics means the world to me. It's unreal. To qualify the last place and gain the maximum available is a huge achievement for the team.”
The men's VL3 A Final was a tightly contested race as Tokyo bronze medallist Stuart Wood went head to head against a stacked field, with any of the top seven looking podium bound.
Wood battled well to challenge the top boats, with his time of 49.73 placing him fifth overall and less than a second off the top three.
Very little split Paralympic bronze medallist Rob Oliver and World silver medallist Jonny Young as the Brits lined up side by side in the men's KL3 A Final.
It proved to be one of the races of the day as less than a second separated first from seventh.
Sadly neither Oliver or Young made it onto the podium on this occasion as they placed fifth and sixth respectively, with just 0.09 second between the teammates.
A storming performance from Jack Eyers saw him win the men's VL3 B Final.
After trouble with his boat in the early rounds and just narrowly missing out on the A Final, Eyers finished his World Championships on a high as he powered to 47.17, the fastest time of the two finals.
Deborah Kerr (Anker Valley) and Emma Russell (Chelmsford) combined to finish third in a tough B Final of the women's K2 500m.
Sixth at the halfway stage, the pair fought back well, climbing through the pack to take a top three spot after round a busy four days of racing.
Russell said:
“It was a fun race and I'm happy we finished on a high. We felt more like ourselves when we were racing, so happy to round off with that.
“We can take lots from that into the rest of the season. I'm proud that we kept fighting this weekend and to be amongst some world-class paddlers there.
Kerr added:
“It was more how we like to race, coming through at the end and it's nice to be at the front of a competitive race with some of the girls who will be fighting for medals at the Olympics.
“It's been a lot of racing (eight) across the four days. I've done it before pre-Tokyo. It's been the people around me such as Emma that have kept me going.
“Our next stop is back here for the Euros, so we will be looking forward to that.”
There was another strong performance from newly formed duo James Russell (Nottingham) and Trevor Thomson (Ealing) as they gained more international exposure in the K2 500m C Final.
A great run saw the pair produce a new personal best, as they finished sixth overall in a time of 1:31.40.
Katie Reid (Forth) booked her place in the semi-final of the women's C1 200m tomorrow morning after finishing fourth in her heat.
Reid posted a time of 47.41 as she raced a competitive heat featuring Vincent (Canada) and Duboys (Cuba).
It wasn't to be for Izzy Evans (Chester) as she pushed hard in her C1 200m heat, but her time of 49.71 saw her finish ninth.
The full results and start list can be found here
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