Three Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallists will be among athletes from more than 60 countries who will be competing in next week’s ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Racice, Czech Republic.
Many countries are using the first World Championships of the Olympic cycle to experiment with new crew combinations, while program changes for the Tokyo Olympics have seen several athletes switch their focus.
Germany’s Sebastian Brendel will be out to continue his dominance of the C1 1000, having won gold at the past two Olympic Games and at the past two World Championships.
Brazil’s Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos, silver medallist behind Brendel in the 1000 and the toast of Rio after winning three medals in front of his home crowd, will be looking to turn the tables on the German next week.
Great Britain’s Liam Heath and France’s Maxime Beaumont, gold and silver medallists in Rio, will resume their rivalry in the men’s K1 200. The pair have met twice in this year’s World Cup, and so far the honours have been shared.
After focusing most of her attention on the team boats at this year’s opening two World Cups, New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington is set for a busy week in Racice.
28-year-old Carrington will be looking to defend her World Championship titles in the both the K1 200, in which she won Olympic gold last year, and the K1 500, in which she won Olympic bronze.
She will also contest the K2 500 with Caitlin Ryan, and will be part of a very strong New Zealand women’s K4 500, a crew that was undefeated at this year’s opening two World Cups.
Rio gold medallist Marcus Walz of Spain and Germany’s Max Hoff are the only two members of the Rio 1000 metre final not competing in Racice, although both will be competing in team boats.
Josef Dostal, silver medallist in the 1000 in Rio, will be looking to the home crowd to help him to victory in one of the most even events on the program.
The K4 men’s event will change from 1000 to 500 metres in Tokyo, which has led to many of the athletes from Rio changing their focus next week.
The German gold medallists have added sprinters Ronald Rauhe and Max Lemke to their boat, replacing distance specialists Hoff and Marcus Gross, and have shown strong K4 500 at the World Cups.
The women’s K4 500 race will be one of the most eagerly anticipated of the week, with Germany, New Zealand, Hungary and France expected to fight out the finish, while Germany’s Franziska Weber and Tina Dietze will start favourites in the women’s K2 500.
The 2017 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships begin next Wednesday, August 23.
