From Ricarda Funk’s two victories on home waters to Raffaello Ivaldi’s long-awaited return to top form, the historic Eiskanal delivered three days of unmissable slalom canoe.
Augsburg, Germany hosted the third leg of the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom World Cup – and it did not disappoint.
Champions from six different nations were crowned as excitement builds for next month’s ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Oklahoma City.
Let’s look back and pick out five things we learned from this World Cup over the past three days.
Click here to find results from Augsburg
Fox is full steam ahead after World Cup three
Australia’s Jessica Fox has slowly been gaining momentum since her return to competition at the beginning of the World Cup Series. In kayak, a silver in Tacen was followed by a gold in Prague before she captured the canoe crown a day later in the Czech capital. The three-time Olympic champion began the weekend in Augsburg by bowing out of the K1 final in a disappointing run but came back stronger the next day to clinch gold in Augsburg and made her return to kayak cross with a seventh placed finish in the time trial. She opted against competing in the head-to-head format, but all this is building her confidence before the World Championships in July.
Germany rejoices as Funk fires to a double gold
Funk set the home crowd wild in Augsburg as she started the weekend by collecting her first gold of the season in the women’s K1 final. Funk put in the fastest time of the day to capture gold on home waters, exactly a year ago to the day that she last won a K1 World Cup gold medal. Funk wasn’t finished with the podium just yet as she also powered to victory in the women’s kayak cross individual, to cap off a highly successful weekend for the 34-year-old. Unfortunately for Funk, she missed out on taking a medal in the kayak cross final, placing fourth after an exhilarating battle on the water, but regardless finished the weekend with two golds and with friends and family watching on from the sidelines. The home advantage is proving to be key in the first half of the World Cup Series, with Funk dominating in Augsburg, Slovenian stars reigning in Tacen, and Czech paddlers flying in Prague.
Krejci keeps his form in Augsburg
Following an unforgettable weekend of racing in Prague, in which Jakub Krejci went two-for-two on home waters, the Czech paddler showed his consistency in Augsburg. After placing third in the heats, behind Great Britain’s Joseph Clarke and France’s Martin Cornu, Krejci kicked on to take victory in the K1 finals. He placed ahead of Italian duo Giovanni De Gennaro and youngster, Xabier Ferrazzi to take a place of the podium for the third week running. Krejci caps off a highly successful first three World Cup events with a total of five medals, including triple gold. While the likes of Titouan Castryck and Anatole Delassus of France have struggled, Krejci has established himself as the new man to beat in the event heading into the World Championships.
Augsburg gold medal marks Ivaldi’s return to the top
After a difficult couple of years, Ivaldi has navigated his way back to the top, after taking gold in the men’s canoe in Augsburg. The Italian wasn’t selected for his national team’s World Cup squad last season, making his resurgence all the more impressive. Rather than stepping away completely, Ivaldi chose to experiment with new approaches, stayed focused, and never lost sight of his goal of returning to the top of elite competition. His comeback was crowned in dramatic fashion. As one of the last paddlers down the ramp, Ivaldi produced a superb run to snatch victory by just 0.07 seconds from Great Britain’s Adam Burgess. In doing so, he shattered Burgess’ hopes of gold and secured his first World Cup victory in more than three years.
Leibfarth picking up rhythm ahead of home World Championships
Despite missing out on the top step of the podium in Augsburg, Evy Leibfarth’s weekend was far from a disappointment. The 22-year-old Olympic medallist secured two medals after a relatively quiet start to the season. Leibfarth had endured a challenging opening to her campaign, finishing off the podium in both Tacen and Prague. With the World Championships fast approaching, and set to be held on home soil - the United States paddler needed a strong result to boost her confidence heading into the sport’s biggest event. On the final day in Augsburg, Leibfarth delivered exactly that. She first claimed bronze in the women’s kayak cross individual event before going one better in the kayak cross final. Producing another impressive performance, she secured silver, her best result of the World Cup season, holding off challenges from bronze medallist Alena Marx and home favourite Funk. The double-medal haul provides a timely confidence boost for Leibfarth as she prepares to compete at a home World Championships with momentum firmly on her side.
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