Ryan Westley got the better of reigning Olympic champion Nicolas Gestin to take the men’s canoe single title while Mads Brandt Pedersen and Liudmyla Babak once again asserted their dominance in Canoe Marathon at the 2024 International Canoe Federation Hangzhou Super Cup.
The first day of Super Cup action saw Great Britain’s Westley produce a sensational run in the C1, clocking 84.43 to pip Frenchman Gestin, who settled for silver.
Bronze went to Vaclav Chaloupka of Czechia, whose timing of 85.37 was enough to surpass Olympic gold medallists Benjamin Savsek of Slovenia and compatriot Jiri Prskavec.
Men’s overall canoe World Cup champion Matej Benus of Slovakia also missed out on a medal, finishing fourth after a two-second penalty cost him dear.
“I was not racing in the Olympics, so I've had quite a nice year, a lot less busy than a lot of people. I think that has been good for me and I'm probably a lot fresher than Nico is this time of the year, but yeah, it was hard,” Westley, who finished third overall in the World Cup circuit, said.
The women’s C1 final saw Czechia’s Gabriela Satkova bag gold in 93.86, adding to her fantastic performances in the last two World Cups in Ivrea and La Seu.
Putting the Paris 2024 disappointment behind her, the two-time world champion edged Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin for the top prize while Italian Marta Bertoncelli took bronze.
Australian Olympic kayak cross champion Noemie Fox and Paris 2024 C1 bronze medallist Evy Leibfarth of the United States finished eighth and sixth, respectively.
“I feel like the journey has been the same for me and Marta since we participated in the Olympics. It was quite hard because, you know, it was an intense experience and then it's kind of hard to find that focus and go into it again,” Satkova said after the win.
“But I felt like we did our best and for me and I think for Martha as well, it's such a big achievement to win a medal here in the last race of the season.”
Italian Olympic champion Giovanni De Gennaro and France’s Camille Prigent won the respective men’s and women’s kayak single gold medals.
They were challenged fiercely by Paris 2024 K1 silver medallists Titouan Castryck and Poland’s Klaudia Zwolinska, with the former losing four seconds to penalties.
Bronze in the men’s K1 went to Austrian Felix Oschmautz while Prigent’s fellow countrywoman Emma Vuitton finished third among women.
There was no stopping Ukrainian Babak in the women’s C1 short-distance race. Fresh from winning her seventh world title in Metkovic in the long-distance, the 27-year-old was a cut above the rest of the field, taking the title in 18:36.32.
Hosts China got their first medals thanks to Ying Wang and Yahui Cao who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Babak, barely able to catch her breath after the medal ceremony, was already thinking about the long-distance title on Saturday.
“I'm very excited. I hope to get some rest and have an early dinner. It has been a long season but I want to win the second gold,” she said.
Babak’s teammate Olena Tsyhankova, who placed third in the long-distance at the World Championships in Croatia, could only manage a seventh-place finish in Hangzhou.
Meanwhile, the men’s K1 short-distance saw Pedersen continue his dream season, taking gold in 13:39.79.
Earlier in the year, the Dane captured the men’s K1 5000m sprint world title in Samarkand and backed that up with short-distance and long-distance marathon golds in Metkovic.
“This is just a fantastic event, having all these disciplines together. Some of the strongest guys in the short-distance are here, so to take the gold is pretty cool and I'm just really happy,” Pedersen said.
“The World Championships would have been the last race of the season, but because of the Super Cup, we had to keep training and I love to paddle, so it was just great to have one more event and especially an event like this.”
The South African duo of Andrew James Birkett and Hamish Lovemore got silver and bronze, respectively.
Spaniard Jaime Duro, who recently won canoe double silver in Metkovic, finished first in the men’s C1 short-distance, getting the better of Moldova’s Serghei Tarnovschi and Hungarian superstar Balazs Adolf, who placed second and third, respectively.
There were no surprises in the women’s K1 short-distance with Sweden’s Melina Andersson once again pipping Hungary’s Vanda Kiszli for gold.
In Metkovic, the Swede did the double over Kiszli and will be hoping for a repeat as she took the short-distance title in Hangzhou in 15:32.17. Bronze went to Eva Barrios of Spain.
Medallists from day one
Men's C1
1. Ryan Westley
Women's C1
Men's K1
1. Givanni de Gennaro
Women's K1
3. Emma Vuitton
Men's C1 short-distance
1. Jaime Duro
3. Balazs Adolf
Women's C1 short-distance
2. Ying Wang
3. Yahui Cao
Men's K1 short-distance
Women's K1 short-distance
2. Vanda Kiszli
3. Eva Barrios
Full coverage of this week's ICF Hangzhou Super Cup featuring Canoe Slalom, Canoe Sprint, Canoe Marathon and Canoe Polo can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
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