Twists, turns, thrills, spills and a delightful dose of crashes gripped a packed crowd as kayak cross announced its arrival at the OIympic Games in Paris.
The Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium was rocking as thousands of fans enjoyed a spectacular day of kayak cross action.
There was not a spare seat in the stands as the event was presented on the biggest stage in sport for the first time.
Kayak cross is making its much-anticipated debut at the Olympics with round one and repechages races taking place on Saturday.
The noise levels increased when French paddlers were introduced on the start ramp before slashing onto the water.
Camille Prigent, who was the fastest female in Friday’s time trials, was the first of the home favourites to go as she won her round-one race.
Angele Hug was also in flying form as she swept into the Sunday heats with an impressive performance.
“The nerves this morning were bad and then I had a little nap,” said Hug.
“When I finally saw my friends and family I was okay.
“I tried to be fast at the beginning to be alone for the rest of the race.
“Tomorrow it could be different, but we will see.”
Most athletes were rewarded for fast starts with French stars Boris Neveu and Tituan Castryck powering home to win their respective races.
Castryck even had time to showboat before crossing the finish line as he turned to celebrate with the French fans.
“I had nothing behind me so I just looked at the crowd and my boat turned around so I just wanted to enjoy the moment,” said Castryck.
Other top performers included Australia’s Noemie Fox and Great Britain’s reigning world champions Kimberley Woods and Joseph Clarke.
"Job done for today, just try to get through the first, put the burners on for the first 20 or 30 seconds, and then just ease off and save the arms for tomorrow,” said Clarke.
"That's kind of like my super strength is that start, those first few strokes getting the power down, and hopefully I can keep deploying that through the rounds and I think from any lane I can get ahead."
Brazil’s Ana Satila, Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska, Czechia’s Jiri Prskavec, Slovenia’s Benjamin Savsek and Great Britain’s Adam Burgess needed another race to seal their place in the heats after dropping into the repechages.
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