Ting Yang made history for China with a stunning victory in the women’s canoe at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom Junior World Championships in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia.
It was a huge moment for China as the Asian nation had never previously achieved a gold medal at any ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships.
Yang produced a clean run to seal the title in 112.84 seconds, emerged victorious by 0.68.
“It’s really exciting and I am very proud,” said Yang.
“I am excited that I am getting better and better.”
France’s Lena Quemerais was the silver medallist with Czech paddler Valentyna Kocirova claiming bronze.
There were no surprises in the men’s canoe junior as Slovenia’s Ziga Lin Hocevar triumphed by eight seconds to retain his crown.
Hocevar was a class above the field as he cruised to victory in 92.45 with an impeccable performance.
It is another title to a sensational season having become senior European champion and won his first ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in the men’s C1.
“It is incredible, really unbelievable to be back-to-back world champion,” said Hocevar.
“It is something that I have been dreaming about.
“Not a lot of people have done it before so to win by eight seconds is incredible.
“Of course every time you can do better but I think it was almost a perfect run.”
France’s Martin Cornu and Germany’s Niels Zimmermann clinched silver and bronze respectively.
There could have been two golds for the Hocevar family but Great Britain’s Lois Leaver edged out Ziga Lin’s sister in the women’s kayak U23 final.
Leaver stunned Eva Alina Hocevar by 0.12 to secure the title.
"It's crazy, it all happened so fast,” said Leaver.
“It feels very surreal right now.
"I felt like I had worked on the things from the semifinals, I improved my run and when I crossed the finish line I saw the scoreboard go green it was crazy.
"I was really nervous just waiting to see how the other girls did and there were some really good runs going down, so I am just happy.
"It will take a few days to let it sink in."
Hocevar picked up silver, with Czechia’s Katerina Bekova earning bronze.
France’s Anatole Delassus was celebrated another men’s kayak U23 title, adding to the one he won in 2022.
Delassus posted a time of 89.92 which proved to be enough as Czechia’s Jakub Krejci finished just 0.05 short.
“I feel very happy with my win,” said Delassuss.
“It was a tough day, especially in the semifinals as I was a little bit nervous.
“It was very close in the final and I knew before it would be.
“I have raced against Jacob for a lot of years and each year it is hard fight.”
Krejci sealed silver with Slovenia’s Lan Tominc bagging bronze.
Competition will continue tomorrow with the semifinals and finals of the women’s and men’s canoe U23 and women’s and men’s kayak junior.
All of today's results can be found here.
Pictures by ICF/Damiano Benedetto
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Related links
- How to watch LIVE coverage of ICF events in 2024
- Triple delight for France and Czechia on first day in Liptovsky Mikulas
- Red-hot Hocevar eyes more world junior glory in Liptovsky Mikulas
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