Giovanni De Gennaro and Daniele Molmenti stole the show in Ivrea as the Italian pair got a one-two in the K1M at the premiere 2016 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup of the season.

“I feel great it’s awesome to share this moment with my friends and family,” commented De Gennaro after his victory.

“The crowd was amazing and the atmosphere was brilliant. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

Earlier in the day the two Italian crowd-favourites just squeezed into the final after taking the last two spots from the semi.

At this stage the 2012 Olympic Champion, Molmenti, was slightly quicker down the fast Ivrea channel.

However De Gennaro’s was to have the last word with his time of 90.13 (2) standing until the very end and earning the 23-year-old his first World Cup gold.

“I was lucky in the semifinal.” acknowledged De Gennaro, but perhaps the opportunity to start first in the final released the pressure and allowed the up-and-coming Italian to attack the Ivrea channel free from expectation.

Like Gennaro, Molmenti also incurred a two-second penalty on his final run, but both had enough flat line speed to offset the two-second deficit and secure gold and silver respectively.

Poland’s Dariusz Popiela rounded out the podium with a clean run that secured bronze.

Michal Jane (CZE) won the C1M ahead of Switzerland’s Thomas Koechlin in a tense and tight final.

Kilian Foulon (FRA) completed the podium and collected bronze with the top three all posting clean runs.

Five-time-Olympic Medallist Michal Martikan (SVK) was the quickest to the line but received a 50-second penalty on gate 24 that relegated the star to ninth.

Australia’s Jessica Fox continued her dominance in the C1W class again outscoring Britain’s Mallory Franklin (Silver) and Kimberley Woods (Bronze).

“It’s a challenging course here in Ivrea,” said the young Australian star.

“The moves in the middle of the course were quite tricky for me. I struggled with them in the semi but managed to put down a solid run to get through.”

Fox didn’t mange to dispel the issue in the final either, but the ever-positive champion continued powerfully down the channel after another stutter in the middle.

“In the final I had to go with a plan B back ferry. I’m just glad I could just charge down to the bottom and finish it off well.”

That she did and earned another C1W World Cup gold to add to her collection.

The action continues tomorrow with the K1W and C2M semifinals starting at 10:00 CET and the finals getting underway at 13:00 CET.


C1 Men
Gold – Michal Jane (CZE) 93.37, 0 penalty
Silver – Thomas Koechlin (SUI)  95.59, 0 penalty
Bronze – Kilian Foulon (FRA) 99.61, 0 penalty

C1 Women
Gold – Jessica Fox (AUS) 113.92, 4 penalty
Silver – Mallory Franklin (GBR) 114.17, 2 penalty
Bronze – Kimberley Woods (GBR) 114.89,  2 penalty

K1 Men
Gold – Giovanni De Gennaro (ITA) 90.13, 2 penalty
Silver – Daniele Molmenti (ITA) 91.24, 2 penalty
Bronze – Dariusz Popiela (POL) 91.58, 0 penalty

Canoe Slalom
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