Tereza Kneblova has one key piece of advice for anyone hoping to make their mark in the exciting rough-and-tumble format of kayak cross. Be ready to improvise.
It’s a sign of how far the brand new Olympic event has come since it was first introduced at Canoe Slalom events.
Back then, the only tactic seemed to be to get from the top of the course to the bottom of the course as quickly as possible.
But when kayak cross was added to the Olympic programme for Paris 2024, it all seemed to change.
The number of kayak cross specialists swelled overnight, and athletes and coaches pored over race footage, working out how to maximise performances.
Kneblova is one of those athletes. An outstanding slalom paddler in her own right, the 22-year-old Czech has been one of the athletes who has taken the sport to a new level.
This year, Kneblova has won the European U23 kayak cross title and bronze in the U23 World Championships, and also won World Cup gold on her home course in Prague and silver in La Seu.
It’s good form to be bringing to the World Championships this week, although at the back of her mind she also knows she has to improve on the past two World Cups which did not go her way.
“I’m a little bit nervous, because kayak cross is something different than slalom,” Kneblova said.
“You have to have some luck, and it’s not all about your ability to do a good run.
“But I am excited. I hope I will do better than in the last two World Cups, so we’ll see what happens. I think in those World Cups it wasn’t about luck, it was my mistake, so I hope I learned from that and I will do better this weekend.”
Kneblova missed selection for the Czech team in the slalom this year, which while disappointing, has allowed her to focus on kayak cross in her training.
And with the way the sport has changed, the more time you can spend practicing the starts, the upstream gates and the roll, the better.
But no matter how much you train, on the day your fate is usually in the hands of others. And that’s where improvisation comes in.
“Everyone knows so much more about this sport now, so it’s changed everything,” she said.
“Everyone is more advanced in technique, and also the tactics, so you have to think about it more. I love it. I love to talk about it with my coach, and try other ways to find out what is the best.”
Kneblova said there’s also a skill at looking at your opponent and the way they like to race. But she warns not to get too caught up trying to predict what they might do once the adrenalin of the race kicks in.
“Sometimes I think you can work out your tactics by looking at who you are racing against,” she said.
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“Some races are doing stuff that you know about, but you really have to focus on yourself because you never know what will happen and you need to know how to improvise and have a back-up plan in case something happens.
“The hardest part of cross is trying to predict what other people will do. I don’t think it’s more about the technique, it’s more about the strategy and the mindset that you have, how are you able to improvise when you need it.
“The hardest part is knowing when to attack and where to defend.”
Athletes getting hurt is extremely rare, but kayak cross is a contact sport, and there are paddles and boats and rocks and lots of other things flying everywhere.
Kneblova said she no longer worries about that.
“I used to worry about it a lot, but now I’m more relaxed about it because we have so many sessions with the boys,” she said.
“It just makes you feel better if you know how to do it, and how to prevent it, nothing will happen if you are careful. I’m not real scared about it. That’s the key to doing well at cross, because if you are afraid than you are not able to do your best.”
And her expectations for this weekend?
“I don’t want to put any pressure on myself because it’s not just about me, I want to enjoy it. I want to be in a good mood and enjoy the race, because I think that’s what cross is all about.”
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