There were no surprises on the opening day of the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom World Cup in Krakow, with all the top-ranked athletes safely through to Friday’s semi-finals.
Tokyo Olympian Eliska Mintalova put down the most impressive run in the women’s kayak.
Her time of 89.69 putt the Slovakian more than one second ahead of three-time Olympic medalist Jessica Fox of Australia and Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods.
Spain’s Rio Olympic gold medalist Maialen Chourraut, who will compete at her fifth Games later this year, posted the fourth fastest qualifying time.
In the men’s kayak 2016 Olympic gold medalist Joseph Clarke showed he is ready for his return to the Games stage this year with a scorching time on his first heat run.
The British paddler posted a clean time of 81.09, almost two seconds faster than the next best paddler on the course, Spain’s Pau Echaniz. Czech Jan Barta was third quickest.
Friday will see the heats of the men’s and women’s canoe in the morning, followed by the semi -finals and finals of the men’s and women’s kayak in the afternoon.
Krakow will be the final ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup event before the Paris Olympics.
For all the results from today's competition, click here.
Full coverage of this week's event can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
Join Planet Canoe's YouTube channel for €9.99 per month to unlock members-only content and features
Related links
