French paddler Anatole Delassus provided the race of the 2019 ICF junior and U23 canoe slalom world championships to take gold in the junior K1 in Krakow on Saturday.

Czech Gabriela Satkova finished her junior career with a successful defence of her C1 title, standing tall while opponents around her struggled with the challenging course.

Delassus posted an incredible 85.15 seconds to win the junior K1 final. Czech Jakub Krejci, the second last paddler on the course, set 85.42 – a time faster than the winning time in the U23 K1 earlier in the day.

But he and the big crowd looked on in disbelief as the young Frenchman went even faster to snatch the gold away.

“It’s fantastic, I didn’t know the time of Jakub at the start, so I’m so happy,” Delassus said.

“I was not in good form at the start of this year, and French team selection was bad for me. But I feel very well now, so I’m very happy.

“This is my last year as a junior. Next year will be the same, just a little bit harder.”

The bronze went to Slovenia’s Vid Ostrbenk in a time of 89.61.

Czech Gabriela Satkova successfully defended her 2018 junior C1 world title with an impressive performance to add more gold to her country’s collection for the week.

Satkova was one of the only paddlers to master the Krakow course in a messy final, eventually finishing 2.58 seconds ahead of teammate Tereza Kneblova to end her junior career on a high.

“I knew it was going to be harder than last year because of the pressure, but I really just hoped to do my best,” Satkova said.

“It’s the hardest thing in the world for me, to not be stressed and to be focussed. You never know if you’re going to be fast enough, I was so nervous, I didn’t know if I could do it again.

“Next year will be so hard for me, because all the girls are so strong and it’s so hard to beat them.”

Italy’s Marta Bertoncelli picked up the bronze medal.

The 2019 ICF junior and U23 canoe slalom world championships conclude on Sunday with finals in extreme slalom.