The three-day ICF sprint and paracanoe world cup in Paris has come to an end with double gold on the final day to New Zealand and Hungary.
Five-time Olympic champion Lisa Carrington opted not to race K1 at the Vaires-sur-Marne venue where next year’s Olympic Games will be held, but had a triumphant return to the women’s K2 500 with gold alongside Alicia Hoskin.
Carrington and Hoskin didn’t compete in the K2 at Duisburg to maximise New Zealand’s chances of earning six quotas for next year’s Olympics, but reminded everyone on Friday of their class in the testing Paris conditions.
Teammate Aimee Fisher also embraced the opportunity to return to K1 racing after focusing on the K2 in Duisburg, winning the K1 500 gold.
In the men’s K1 1000 Hungarian’s Balint Kopasz and Adam Varga resumed a battle which has been raging since the Tokyo Olympics, with Kopasz repeating the result from the Olympics on Friday. In the C1 1000, Czech Martin Fuksa continued his world championship-winning form with an impressive victory.
In the K2 500 Germany took the opportunity to experiment with K4 partners Max Rendschmidt and Jakob Schopf. It proved a strong pairing, the Germans taking the gold ahead of Spain’s Adrian del Rio and Rodrigo Germade.
China’s dominance of women’s canoe continued, with Wenjun Lin taking the gold in the C1 200 ahead of Canada’s Katie Vincent.
The paracanoe competition also wrapped up, with three world champions from Duisburg carrying their strong form into the Paris world cup.
Hungary’s Peter Kiss once again won the men’s KL1, a race he has dominated since before the Tokyo Paralympics. Brazil’s Luis Cardoso improved one position from Duisburg, finishing second, pushing Frenchman Remy Boulle to third.
Great Britain’s Laura Sugar once again took the women’s KL3, with France’s Nelia Barbosa and Germany’s Felicia Laberer once again filling the minor placings.
Just days after winning his first ever world championship title, Australia’s Dylan Littlehales was opnce again on top of the men’s KL3 podium. Great Britain’s Jonathan Young took silver, and Senegal’s Edmond Sanka won his first international medal by finishing third.
