The return of dual Paris Olympic gold medalist Jessica Fox and men’s canoe single champion Nicolas Gestin and the crowning of the overall 2024 World Cup winners will highlight the final competition of the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom season in Spain this weekend.
The Barcelona 1992 Olympic venue in La Seu will bring together most of the world’s best athletes, including the past three Olympic champions in the women’s kayak single, the past two gold medalists in the men’s K1, and three of the men who have triumphed in the men’s C1.
Fox did not compete at last weekend’s World Cup in Ivrea, but heads to La Seu still leading the overall standings in the women’s C1, and sitting third overall in the K1. The Australian, who won gold in both disciplines in Paris, sits behind France’s Emma Vuitton and Germany’s Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Ricarda Funk in the K1.
In the C1, Fox leads from Germany’s Nele Bayn and Czech Martina Satkova, but the biggest threat may come from Paris Olympian Gabriela Satkova, who has won the only two World Cups she has contested this year.
In the men’s K1, Frenchman Anatole Delassus leads the standings from the Czech duo of Jakub Krejci and Vit Prindis. Italian Olympic champion Giovanni De Gennaro sits in sixth place overall, while Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Jiri Prskavec sits outside the top ten.
The tightest competition comes in the men’s C1, with the top five athletes separated by less than 20 points. Slovakia’s Olympic silver and bronze medalist Matej Benus leads from teenager Ziga Lin Hocevar from Slovenia and another Slovak, Marko Mirgorodsky.
The Slovenian power duo of reigning World Cup champions Luka Bozic and Benjamin Savsek sit in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
A single point separates Brazil’s Pedro Goncalves and France’s Mathurin Madore in the men’s kayak cross, while in the women’s event, Great Britain’s Olympic bronze medalist Kimberley Woods heads to La Seu leading from the Czech pair Tereza Kneblova and Katerina Bekova.
Double points will be on offer in La Seu, throwing the race for all events wide open. Competition begins on Thursday, and will run through to Sunday.
For more information on the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup Final La Seu, click here.
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