American Jordan Poffenberger won his second canoe freestyle world title, taking gold in the men’s open canoe surface final at the 2019 ICF world championships in Sort Spain.

Poffenberger qualified last for the five-man final, but then recorded 173.33 on his first ride to place the rest of the finalists under pressure.

No-one was able to better Poffenberger’s mark, with Frenchman Jean-Yves Moustrou taking silver with 153.33, and Germany’s Philip Josef taking bronze with 126.67.

“Really the hope is to lay down a solid ride, so that way with the next couple of runs I can try and better it,” Poffenberger said.

“Each run I was shooting for a bigger score, but sometimes your first ride is your best one. It was weird because I was having a lot of trouble in my preliminary rounds, but in practice I was feeling very confident.

“So I knew with more pressure on me I tend to rip it out, so I think the extra pressure helped me perform a little better. Being first up is definitely nerve-wracking, its definitely a little more stressful but at the same time, it’s fun being on the water.”

Two-time world champion Dane Jackson began his quest to regain the title he lost in 2017 by posting the highest qualifying score in the men’s kayak on Wednesday.

Jackson was in red hot form, posting two scores above 1500 to end up with a total of 3060 points, well ahead of Great Britain’s Gavin Barker on 2198.33 and Frenchman Sebastien Devred on 2165.

Spain’s Joaquim Fontane, who won gold ahead of Jackson and Devred in Argentina in 2017, qualified in fifth place with 1966.67 points.

Jackson, who was the first athlete on the water in the qualifiers, believes a similar score to his qualifying total will be needed in the final to secure a medal.

“I think somewhere between the 1400 and 1600 mark will be the upper end rides, so I was super stoked to know I was able to pull off a ride like that this morning,” he said.

“At the beginning I was a little bit nervous about having to go first, literally being the first person of the whole prelims, because usually its good to watch a few people and get an idea what to do,” Jackson said.

“But to be able to set the bar high early, it’s been a lot of fun watching the rest of the boys.”

Jackson won the kayak world title in 2013 and 2015 before relinquishing the crown in 2017, and says

“I’m definitely pretty fired up to get back up on top, but in the end I’m just enjoying myself,” Jackson said.

“Two years is a long time to have it in the back of your mind for sure, but I’m feeling good and I think it’s just going to be a great battle.”

The men’s kayak surface quarter and semi-finals will be held Saturday, with the final under lights on Saturday night.

Pics by Bence Vekassy