Canoe: Semis / 2023 ICF Canoe-Kayak Slalom World Championships & Olympic Qualifier Lee Valley UK

last year

2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships & Olympic Qualifier
19–24 September Lee Valley, London, United Kingdom ️
https://planet.canoeicf.com/2023SlalomWorldsLeeValley

Transcript

00:00:00 It's very, very detrimental to the time and to your comfort in the boat.

00:00:04 Yes, and there's a trip to the panel readers coming up for Alexandra Stark.

00:00:08 Oh my goodness, the touches here are just falling one after another.

00:00:13 It looks like a checkerboard on the side of the screen there.

00:00:16 But what I was going to say is, I'm going to put my neck on the line and say that Germany

00:00:19 will get a quota here today, which will mean that Poland, who finished second in Krakow,

00:00:25 if they don't get the quota today, will take the one from this.

00:00:30 Now, please don't go to the bank and say Ross Solley told me that this is how it's going

00:00:33 to work.

00:00:34 I'm just speculating on my reading of it.

00:00:38 That's the way it will unfold.

00:00:39 Yeah, I think that the Polish can be pretty confident that they have a spot at the Olympics

00:00:43 in Paris 2024.

00:00:44 Yeah, it just won't happen today.

00:00:46 Look at that long list of penalties there.

00:00:49 So at the moment, the Polish paddlers are sitting in 13th and 14th position, so they're

00:00:54 definitely not going to make the final.

00:00:56 And it's going to be very hard for them to get one of those 12 quotas.

00:01:00 Now this young lady, well, she's been a revelation this year.

00:01:02 Angele Hulk, she won a silver medal in the Augsburg World Cup.

00:01:05 She's just been ultra-con...

00:01:06 Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

00:01:10 Just passing that gate upside down.

00:01:13 She's not going to go back for it.

00:01:14 Yeah, there's sometimes when you just, you're not able to catch back and get a gate.

00:01:18 So that'll be one or two missed gates for Ranja.

00:01:21 Two, I saw two.

00:01:22 I counted two.

00:01:23 That's devastating.

00:01:24 Oh, no.

00:01:25 Such a poised paddler normally.

00:01:29 This is not what we'd expect to see from her, which is, it's very sad to see.

00:01:33 And Lois again, just emphasizing the pressure that the athletes are on out there, because

00:01:38 as you said, she would normally be in control and be very smooth, and she just lost it there

00:01:44 and that was it, gone.

00:01:46 Yeah, we do see, we can see some of her amazing style here showing at the end of her run.

00:01:52 She's going to try to do her best, which is nice to see.

00:01:57 You can just see how careful and delicate she is as a paddler.

00:02:02 So she's the second of the French paddlers on the course.

00:02:06 Lucie Prio was out earlier and she's currently sitting in fifth position, just in that awkward

00:02:11 situation at the moment.

00:02:12 But we do have, oh, and there's another touch.

00:02:14 We do still have Marjorie DelaSouz to come.

00:02:17 That's right.

00:02:18 So French fans watching at home, you will have...

00:02:21 It's not over yet.

00:02:22 You will have another opportunity.

00:02:23 And let's not discount Lucie Prio's situation at the moment.

00:02:27 She's sitting there in fifth position.

00:02:29 And we are now getting down to, this is the 17th paddler on the course.

00:02:33 We have 30 all up.

00:02:35 So it's still wide open.

00:02:36 It is still wide open.

00:02:38 But unfortunately for Angele Hoog.

00:02:40 Angele paddling to the finish line.

00:02:42 They only gave her 150, so they obviously must have thought she went through the gate

00:02:46 six, but I don't know about that.

00:02:48 And it doesn't matter, to be honest.

00:02:51 Obviously it was over for her in the first few gates.

00:02:56 So now we have, gee, they've got a strong team, the Germans.

00:02:59 This is Nellie Bain, who's on the course now.

00:03:01 She was part of the C1 team who won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships.

00:03:07 But just one of those paddlers who, if she was competing for any other country in the

00:03:11 world, Lois, she'd probably be up there as one of their very, very best.

00:03:15 But when you're in Germany...

00:03:16 That's right.

00:03:17 You have some big shoes to fill and to try to pass.

00:03:20 You have some quality athletes in front of you, but she's got a chance today to make

00:03:24 her mark.

00:03:25 And at this stage, all clear at the top of the course, which not a lot of athletes have

00:03:29 been.

00:03:30 And really nice boat control there between gate 10 and 11.

00:03:32 That cross is going to be critical for the chrono to see when the paddlers cross those

00:03:39 waves nicely and keep the boat running fast forward and don't drop their edge and put

00:03:44 a brace stroke in.

00:03:45 You see them accelerate the boat on the wave as opposed to just hold on.

00:03:50 And you really see that come out in the time.

00:03:53 Those are key moments for the speed.

00:03:56 Oh, an unfortunate touch there.

00:03:59 With her back on the way through.

00:04:01 So a review on 13, definite touch on 17.

00:04:04 So that's going to make it very difficult for Nelly Bain from Germany.

00:04:08 But...

00:04:09 You made the S move very nicely.

00:04:11 But I don't think it'll be...

00:04:13 But there is Elena Lilic sitting up there in second spot at the moment.

00:04:17 And you still have the world champion to come, Andrea Herzog.

00:04:20 So the Germans would feel pretty comfortable where they are right now.

00:04:25 And they also have their quota locked away from Krakow, if required.

00:04:28 But Nelly Bain going very low here and has a lot of work to do to get back to this gate.

00:04:33 So it hasn't turned out the way she might have liked for the bottom half of this run.

00:04:37 Yeah.

00:04:38 Pulling to the end, though, very good to see.

00:04:40 See her coming in with a time of 1.23.89 into 14th place provisionally.

00:04:47 But that's not going to be quite the finish she was hoping for.

00:04:50 Yeah, I mentioned Marjorie de la Sousse, this young lady, fourth at the Tokyo Olympics.

00:04:57 Just missed a medal there.

00:04:58 So she'd love to get a chance to go at least one better in Paris next year.

00:05:04 She's...

00:05:05 Oh, my goodness.

00:05:06 Oh, she's missed that gate, hasn't she?

00:05:07 Yeah.

00:05:08 She's going to have to do the same loop as Jess here, I think.

00:05:11 Oh, no, Jess was on the other one, sorry.

00:05:13 But she...

00:05:14 Oh, managing to get the gate quite nicely, but again, so costly on that time.

00:05:20 2019 European under-23 champion doing the C1 and the K1 Marjorie.

00:05:28 She's got some work to do here.

00:05:30 We mentioned Lucie Prio.

00:05:32 Her teammate is currently sitting in fifth position.

00:05:35 So it's a bit of work here for the French to do.

00:05:38 They want to get themselves...

00:05:39 I think they probably want to get themselves a little bit higher on the leaderboard.

00:05:41 Coming into Gate 12 very nicely for Mouche, but it's really challenging when you have

00:05:47 such a big mistake at the top of the course to come back from that, to stay composed and

00:05:52 keep the speed on the boat for the rest of it to try to get into that final.

00:05:56 Well, we did see Jess Fox throw, but that's Jess Fox again.

00:05:59 That's right.

00:06:00 I mean, I'm looking at that time now that she's set.

00:06:03 And when you look at it, you think, "Oh, yeah, that must have been an okay run."

00:06:06 But then you've got to... if you didn't see the run, you wouldn't know that she actually

00:06:09 even had to go back to get a gate.

00:06:10 So that's how good the bottom half of that run was.

00:06:13 Marjorie, though, also a phenomenal paddler.

00:06:15 She can put so much speed on this boat.

00:06:17 And we see her almost being in touch for the first two time stamps, but then falling back

00:06:24 a little bit of three seconds back on the third intermediate.

00:06:28 And we'll see on that final one, I think she might be just a little bit out of touch of

00:06:32 the final.

00:06:33 She needs a big finish here.

00:06:34 She's going to be not far out, actually.

00:06:36 She's going to be challenging for Lucy Priot's time.

00:06:37 It's going to be very close.

00:06:38 So she's losing to fourth.

00:06:39 You can see she's surprised.

00:06:40 I think she gave everything on that run to come back from it.

00:06:47 And we will see.

00:06:49 There's still 11 paddlers to go.

00:06:52 There's going to be some cues falling soon, and that fourth place might stand.

00:06:56 Yeah.

00:06:57 Well, importantly, I think it's really she wants to be in the top 12 to guarantee that

00:07:02 quota as well.

00:07:03 And given that we may have a couple of athletes from, well, see at the moment, I'm looking

00:07:09 at the top 10.

00:07:10 We've got a good spread of countries here at the moment.

00:07:12 Here we have Lena Thunsen.

00:07:13 Oh my goodness.

00:07:14 A lot of touches for her as well here on this start of this.

00:07:18 Just that stagger at the top is very, very challenging.

00:07:22 And we're seeing a lot of runs start off not quite as smoothly as I think most of these

00:07:28 women would like.

00:07:30 So this is athlete number 20.

00:07:32 I'm doing some maths in my head here.

00:07:34 Maths was never my strong point.

00:07:35 So we're going to see the first cue turn up in just a moment.

00:07:40 But what I can also tell you is that assuming that let's just say for argument's sake that

00:07:46 the next 10 athletes all get through, that means that Jess Fox from Australia and Ellen

00:07:52 Alilic from Germany will have quotas locked away for Paris next year.

00:07:59 Yeah.

00:08:00 So that's a relief.

00:08:01 And then we'll see them throw down some runs in the final that are maybe a little bit freer

00:08:06 from the pressure of quota qualification and a little bit more focused on getting that

00:08:11 world championship title.

00:08:13 So Lena Thunsen keeping the judges busy.

00:08:16 They're reviewing four gates at the moment just because they've got nothing better to

00:08:19 do.

00:08:20 Sitting down, having a look at four gates.

00:08:22 But unfortunately for Lena, she hasn't been that quick across the water either.

00:08:26 So needs something pretty special at the bottom end of this course for Lena Thunsen.

00:08:31 But unfortunately, I don't think her time is going to challenge the top 10.

00:08:35 Yeah, I think she's quite far off that split.

00:08:39 In fact, now she's blowing up quite a long way.

00:08:44 So she is the one and only Dutch paddler here.

00:08:48 So unfortunately for her, that will not be a final and won't be a quota either, I wouldn't

00:08:54 have thought for Lena Thunsen.

00:08:56 Yeah, I'm not sure what her result was at the Europeans, but she wasn't top 10.

00:09:02 No, not top 10.

00:09:03 And I think it might be a bit challenging.

00:09:04 I think we can assume now, Lois, that Poland will take the quota from the European Games.

00:09:10 Oh, that's right.

00:09:12 I guess we do have all three Polish athletes have gone down the course.

00:09:16 And so far our top Polish would be Klaudia Zwolinska, 123.19.

00:09:24 Only in 14th, she won't be progressing to the final.

00:09:27 We'll see.

00:09:28 We'll see who ends up going ahead of them, but they might have to rely on that European

00:09:32 championship quota.

00:09:33 Here we have Evie Leibbarth from USA on course.

00:09:39 Just a very dynamic paddler, somebody who has shown her class in previous years and

00:09:45 then maybe not so much on the top of the podium last year, I guess.

00:09:52 But then this year she's just, she's really consistently been doing well.

00:09:57 She really made her mark at the under 23 world championships in both the C1 and the K1.

00:10:02 She became the K1 under 23 world champion.

00:10:05 She won, she also was the bronze medalist in the C1 and only sort of lost the gold because

00:10:09 she had a couple of touches.

00:10:10 But she's been junior world champion.

00:10:13 Yes, absolutely.

00:10:14 So she is a phenomenal young paddler.

00:10:16 You've got to remind yourself, she's still just 19 years of age.

00:10:19 2.56 seconds up on Jess in that last split.

00:10:22 A little bit slower than Jess, I think, just from watching on this last gate combination.

00:10:27 But I think she's still going to be able to get into first, if not second place.

00:10:32 Yes, she's going to be challenging here for a top time.

00:10:35 I think she's going to be just under, wow.

00:10:37 Just ahead of Jess Fox, an automatic Q for Evie Leibbarth.

00:10:41 Look how excited she is.

00:10:43 She is our first finalist and she's also locked away that quota for the Olympic Games next

00:10:50 year.

00:10:51 What a great moment for her, for this young paddler to get a chance to possibly go to

00:10:54 a second Olympics.

00:10:56 Absolutely.

00:10:57 At the age of 19.

00:10:58 She looks pretty excited there on the final, the finish line there.

00:11:02 Knowing she's going into that final will be really exciting for her.

00:11:05 Knowing she's going to get a quota for the Olympics, very exciting for her.

00:11:09 And then we have Clara Olazabal from Spain starting her campaign down this course.

00:11:16 Yes, Clara, again, another young paddler.

00:11:20 She's won a couple of silver medals in the team's events.

00:11:25 Always thereabouts, but we're always looking forward to seeing her lay down something special.

00:11:30 Maybe today could be the day for the Spaniard.

00:11:33 Yeah, working on being smooth.

00:11:34 You can see how diligent she's being with her paddle strokes here to just not do anything

00:11:39 crazy, just do everything smooth.

00:11:42 And that'll keep the boat running and it'll keep you in touch with the time.

00:11:46 Maybe not quite enough, but we'll have to see on the final half of this course what

00:11:50 Clara can do.

00:11:51 The best placed Spaniard at the moment is Nuria Villarruga.

00:11:55 She was our first paddler on the course.

00:11:57 She's currently sitting in ninth position.

00:11:58 So, really nice spin option there from Clara.

00:12:03 So, good run.

00:12:05 Not fast, but not too bad.

00:12:07 She's just got that review on gate 13.

00:12:09 So, just at the moment, just to bring you up to speed, evenly fast is through.

00:12:13 She's falling on that S in 19.

00:12:15 Unfortunate for Clara.

00:12:17 Coming into the final move, if she can do this really smoothly, it's not necessarily

00:12:23 over.

00:12:24 We don't know yet.

00:12:25 No, she's got to get under.

00:12:26 Well, Elena Lulik is sitting in third.

00:12:29 Fox is the one at the moment who is waiting to get confirmation that she's through to

00:12:34 the final.

00:12:35 That is going to happen.

00:12:36 And, well, this has not been a bad finish for Ola Tharbul.

00:12:41 She's gone into sixth, which is going to be a very awkward position.

00:12:43 I think that might just be a little bit out of touch.

00:12:47 OK.

00:12:48 Here we have Gabriela Sadkova from Czech Republic.

00:12:51 She's our third and final Czech C1 woman paddler this morning.

00:12:56 Yeah, and at the moment, the Czechs are looking, it's a nervous wait for the Czechs, I have

00:13:01 to say.

00:13:02 Their best paddler at the moment is Fizerova, who's sitting in 11th position.

00:13:06 Yeah, and Sadkova is no stranger to competing and performing at world championships.

00:13:13 She's a very, very competent paddler.

00:13:15 Does a lot of wild water as well.

00:13:17 So, you know, she loves this.

00:13:19 The rougher, the better in terms of the water for Gabi Sadkova.

00:13:22 And she had a bronze medal in Prague this year.

00:13:25 She's a third in the top.

00:13:27 Just catching that wave.

00:13:28 You see, she almost fell off, but she just fought for it, managed to get back on and

00:13:31 re-accelerate down that wave.

00:13:33 Yeah, two-time junior world champion as well, Gabi Sadkova.

00:13:37 So Jess Fox has a cue next to her name as well.

00:13:39 And she also has that ticket locked away for Australia for the Olympics next year.

00:13:46 So that will be a big relief for her after some nervous moments, I have to say, earlier

00:13:51 this week when she made a bit of a mess of her first run in the qualifying and had to

00:13:56 rely on a second run to get through to the semifinals.

00:13:59 So all's well that ends well for our reigning Olympic champion.

00:14:03 It's now starting to get interesting.

00:14:04 This is Gabi Sadkova, the last of the Czechs.

00:14:06 It would be something...

00:14:07 Absolutely nailing that up 19.

00:14:10 I don't want to put too much pressure on the Czechs watching, and I don't want to put pressure

00:14:13 on Gabi Sadkova, but it would be something quite unbelievable if the Czechs didn't qualify

00:14:17 a quota for the C1 in Paris.

00:14:20 Yeah, but so smooth in these last gates and just crossing that last weight.

00:14:25 Oh, a little bit low, actually.

00:14:27 Yeah, wow.

00:14:28 Oh, this is getting a bit nerve wracking now.

00:14:30 Yeah, pulling tight here, but 1.12 is the cutoff time for the first place, but I think

00:14:36 she shall slot in third place.

00:14:38 Yeah, that's a good spot.

00:14:39 She's got the cue.

00:14:40 She's got the cue.

00:14:41 You can see what that means for her.

00:14:43 She is through.

00:14:44 I think we could hear her scream from our commentators box, Roz.

00:14:47 We're not on the water's edge, but I'm sure I could hear something through the headphones.

00:14:52 That means a lot for Gabi Sadkova, and it means a lot for the Czech Republic as well.

00:14:57 Absolutely.

00:14:58 You can just feel her smile from over here on the other side of the trees.

00:15:02 So now we have Monika Doria-Villarugla from Andorra, second in Prague this year.

00:15:09 She's a former junior European champion.

00:15:11 A lot of weight on her shoulders representing Andorra trying to get that quota.

00:15:15 She's been fast this year, hasn't she?

00:15:17 She's had a good season.

00:15:18 Absolutely.

00:15:19 She, not even just this season, she's been on the rise and just maintaining a very respectable

00:15:28 high status, I would say.

00:15:31 But as we get towards the final end of the athletes competing here today, they'll have

00:15:36 seen everybody else's runs, and they know that at the top of the course, a mistake does

00:15:41 not mean that the race is over.

00:15:43 So Monika touching that top gate six, she's going to know that it's not the end of her

00:15:51 race and that she should keep going, keep doing the run she knows she can do, and then

00:15:55 it might still be enough to qualify for that final.

00:15:58 Yeah, I think the smoothest run we've seen so far was Evie Liebfarths.

00:16:05 And even she had some trouble there, you called it at the time, Lois, she had some trouble

00:16:09 getting across between a couple of the gates, but her time is still fast enough to be at

00:16:13 the top of the leaderboard.

00:16:14 So Elena Lilic is the athlete waiting to see if she will get that qualifier now.

00:16:20 Her time was a 1.13.5.

00:16:21 Yeah, it's very tight in that top six paddlers, just two and a half seconds in between first

00:16:30 and fourth.

00:16:31 Oh, this is going to be fast too.

00:16:33 We're going to have a new leader.

00:16:34 Wow.

00:16:35 A new race leader with a touch.

00:16:38 Thank you very much.

00:16:40 Phenomenal.

00:16:41 Monica Doria Villarubla, that has set the stadium on fire.

00:16:45 Sending it.

00:16:46 Here we have Miran Lescano, our last Spanish paddler down the course today, or this morning.

00:16:52 Oh, it's nerve-wracking times, isn't it, as we wait to see who's going to compete for

00:16:57 gold this afternoon, but also who's going to box that ticket for Paris next year.

00:17:05 There's so much on the line.

00:17:06 Yeah, Lescano doing a really dynamic save there.

00:17:11 I don't think that was according to her race plan, but she made it work.

00:17:14 Two touches there, six and seven.

00:17:17 Oh, review, I don't know.

00:17:18 Yeah, there was definitely one touch there on one of them.

00:17:21 So Lescano at the moment, the best placed Spaniard is Clara Olofable.

00:17:25 She's sitting in eighth position at the moment.

00:17:28 We have four athletes who are qualified.

00:17:31 They are Andorra, United States, Australia, and the Czech Republic.

00:17:35 Yeah, so both of those touches standing, so that'll be four seconds of penalties.

00:17:40 Points, oh, four point two five seconds back, going really wide on that gate 13.

00:17:46 Again, I don't think that would have been her race plan.

00:17:49 So she's got a bit of work to do now, the Spaniard.

00:17:56 But look, we've seen this.

00:17:58 There is time to be made up on the bottom of the course, but you really need to have

00:18:02 a bit of petrol left in the tank and there's so much work you have to do at the top half.

00:18:06 I think if we can read her facial expressions right now, they might not be quite as confident

00:18:11 or composed as we know she can look.

00:18:15 I think she might just be a little bit behind.

00:18:19 And yeah, we're really seeing that reflect in the time here, 10 seconds back on our third

00:18:24 intermediary.

00:18:25 Yeah, so this is going to be tough for for the young paddler from Spain, but it's going

00:18:32 to be good news for Elena Lilic, who will go through now.

00:18:35 She'll get a qualification next to her name.

00:18:37 That'll also be good news.

00:18:39 Just confirming for Poland as well.

00:18:43 It's bittersweet for the Poles.

00:18:44 They're not going to have anyone in the final, but they're going to have that Olympic quota

00:18:47 locked up.

00:18:48 Yeah.

00:18:49 And Miriam Lescano devastated across that finish line.

00:18:53 There's so much riding on these World Championships, Ross.

00:18:55 It's not just a World Championships this year.

00:18:58 And I think that's the case with every pre-Olympic World Championships.

00:19:02 But it really is.

00:19:05 You know, it is hard, but we are also out here to enjoy the paddling.

00:19:09 And it's frustrating when you don't do a good run, not just because of the result, but because

00:19:13 it's not what you wanted to perform.

00:19:16 Is it more challenging when you're an athlete like Victoria Uso, who's on the course at

00:19:19 the moment?

00:19:20 I know she's not the only paddler here from Ukraine, but she's done most of the heavy

00:19:23 lifting for Ukraine all year.

00:19:25 And so it's sort of the weight of the world is on her shoulders in terms of getting that

00:19:30 ticket for Paris.

00:19:31 You know, some of the other teams that have other athletes, like, you know, if Gabi Safkova

00:19:35 has a dodgy run, there's someone else in the Czech Republic who would come through and

00:19:38 get that quota.

00:19:39 Yeah.

00:19:40 I would imagine that having a strong team would alleviate some of the pressure for the

00:19:44 Olympic qualification.

00:19:45 But I think it also adds a bit of pressure because, you know, you have to beat your teammates

00:19:49 as well.

00:19:51 I guess it depends on the internal selections and I guess also the interpersonal relationships,

00:19:58 perhaps having a teammate, someone you're in proximity to, the tensions might run higher.

00:20:04 It might add more pressure to your race.

00:20:06 I think it's dependent on the nation.

00:20:09 So Susanna Pankova is waiting at the moment to see if she's going to go into the final.

00:20:13 What it does mean, though, remembering that the top 12 nations will all get tickets.

00:20:18 That was a tight downstream for Uus and she's looping back just to make sure she doesn't

00:20:25 get a 50 seconds on that.

00:20:26 She is only 0.7 seconds back on the third split.

00:20:30 So she might still be able to sneak in that three seconds benchmark.

00:20:35 We'll see.

00:20:36 It's going to be tight.

00:20:37 It's going to be very tight.

00:20:38 1.1407 is the time to beat and she's not going to go ahead of that.

00:20:42 Oh, that loop was just way too costly there for Victoria.

00:20:47 Oh, my God, that's going to be a very nervous wait now for Victoria Uus.

00:20:52 We have our first British paddler of the day.

00:20:56 Kimberly Woods is on the course, of course, two time European champion.

00:21:00 You can hear the crowd.

00:21:01 Yeah, the volume just picked up.

00:21:02 And there's a good crowd out here today.

00:21:05 They're enjoying the British sunshine.

00:21:07 They haven't had a lot of it this week, but it's there today and they're out cheering

00:21:11 on their local hope.

00:21:12 An early touch, unfortunately, for Kimberly.

00:21:13 Yeah, Woods taking a touch and also a little bit sticky on her line there in 8.9.

00:21:19 She was a bit sideways and bow pointing the wrong way, a little bit slow, but she's still

00:21:25 in touch with that time.

00:21:27 Again, the top paddler here, Monica, taking a touch on the first gate.

00:21:33 So the times are comparable, I would say, at this point.

00:21:39 Yeah.

00:21:40 At the moment, we have, let me just do a quick calculation.

00:21:43 We have six athletes.

00:21:44 Oh, Kimberly just leaving that tight as well, giving the judges a little bit of work to

00:21:47 do.

00:21:48 I think she was OK, though.

00:21:50 We have six athletes through.

00:21:51 The athlete waiting at the moment is Marjorie DelaSouz from France.

00:21:55 Yeah, who came back from quite a mistake.

00:21:58 She would be really excited to pull that one into the final and show us what she can really

00:22:04 do.

00:22:05 Yeah.

00:22:06 Kimberly Woods, though, of course, she spends a lot of time on this course.

00:22:07 So if anybody knows where you can make up some time, it would be Kimberly.

00:22:10 That's right.

00:22:11 The Brits here on the course in Lee Valley are a force to be reckoned with.

00:22:16 That is for sure.

00:22:17 And just that home crowd, I'm sure, will be lifting her as well.

00:22:20 She's very much a confidence paddler, Kimberly Woods, and she'll be loving hearing that crowd

00:22:25 getting behind her.

00:22:26 You can hear them.

00:22:27 I hope you can pick it up in our effects microphone, but they are really getting behind this young

00:22:30 lady from rugby.

00:22:32 And she's going to come down.

00:22:34 She's going to be OK, Kimberly.

00:22:35 She's going to be into the final.

00:22:36 So that is a good effort.

00:22:37 Congrats, Kim.

00:22:38 You can see she's excited there.

00:22:39 Yes, she's excited.

00:22:40 She's happy.

00:22:41 She's through.

00:22:42 Look at that crowd, folks.

00:22:43 The crowds are too.

00:22:44 Wowee.

00:22:45 They are very, very happy to have a finalist.

00:22:50 And for Kimberly Woods to get through and also to ensure the physique.

00:22:54 On the start of this course, following Kim.

00:22:56 And I think she she'll be catching some of that residual cheering.

00:23:01 And maybe it'll cheer her on.

00:23:03 And maybe she'll just know that it's a another good run that she has to beat.

00:23:07 We'll see.

00:23:08 And of course, Anna Sotilo made her Olympic debut on this very course back in 2012 as

00:23:14 a teenager.

00:23:15 Quite young.

00:23:16 She's 18.

00:23:17 She so was.

00:23:18 And she's been to two Olympics since then.

00:23:20 So she's had three Olympics and really has been the poster girl for Brazilian canoe slalom

00:23:27 paddling.

00:23:28 That's right.

00:23:29 And she has elevated the program in Brazil phenomenally.

00:23:33 You see her competing with a team of C1 women in the team events, which may be the first

00:23:41 time Brazil's ever had a senior world championship women's team run.

00:23:45 I'm not 100 percent sure on that.

00:23:46 I think you're right.

00:23:47 I think you're right.

00:23:48 But but it's not to be discounted all of the work that Anna's done for the development

00:23:54 of sport in Brazil.

00:23:55 She just works so hard.

00:23:56 She spends so much time on the road.

00:23:57 You know, it's like the paddlers from from from Asia and Oceania.

00:24:03 They they uproot and they move and yourself North America, North America.

00:24:07 Yep.

00:24:08 Yeah.

00:24:09 You're uprooting and move your life over to this part of the world for the large slabs

00:24:12 of a year.

00:24:13 A little bit low on gate 19, but nothing critical.

00:24:16 She's losing a bit of time sort of everywhere on those on those upstream gates, a little

00:24:22 bit low in a few of them.

00:24:24 But if she can hold this together and do a nice cross, it's not out of reach.

00:24:28 Three point five nine seconds back, Marjorie de la Souce is time waiting to qualify.

00:24:34 So this might be tight.

00:24:35 Yeah, the time we're looking at is a one fourteen point six.

00:24:39 And I think she's going to be just outside that.

00:24:41 Just going to be behind that.

00:24:42 But we'll see.

00:24:43 Oh, ninth place.

00:24:44 Oh, my goodness.

00:24:45 She knows what that means.

00:24:48 That means Anna will be next to qualify.

00:24:51 She knows what that means.

00:24:52 And she's waiting on Mallory Franklin from GB.

00:24:56 Yeah, home paddler, I think.

00:25:00 Sorry to jump in there.

00:25:01 I think given that we've already got a GB paddler in the final, I think Anna might be

00:25:05 safe for Brazil.

00:25:07 That's right.

00:25:08 I think she's going to have a quota.

00:25:10 I'll confirm all of that when we finish the runs.

00:25:13 But I'm just doing some maths on top of my head and I think she's going to be OK.

00:25:17 We'll get back to you on that one, though.

00:25:19 Let's watch Mallory Franklin, though.

00:25:22 Another hometown favorite, Olympic medalist, of course, 2017 world champion.

00:25:27 She's been an under 23 world champion as well, I think in the same year from memory.

00:25:30 Twenty seventeen was a solid year for Mallory Franklin.

00:25:34 Yeah, they've definitely had between her and Kim a lot of a lot of success.

00:25:40 Sometimes it's hard to tell, hard to remember who was winning in C1 and who was winning

00:25:44 in K1 that year because they sort of trade off the dominating.

00:25:48 So Anna Satylar, I think, had her penalty removed, so she's jumped up to ninth for Satylar.

00:25:55 So that's going to be good enough for her to get that Olympic quota, which is I'm sure

00:25:59 she'll be relieved about that.

00:26:01 Yeah.

00:26:02 But whether she makes the final, well, that's going to come down to these last two paddlers.

00:26:06 Mallory Franklin and Andrea Herzog, GBR and GER, two extremely strong nations, two extremely

00:26:13 strong paddlers.

00:26:15 Let's see what they they put down.

00:26:17 So far, Mallory having a very nice run, a little bit safe, maybe in a couple of options.

00:26:23 But oh, here you can see the precision there.

00:26:26 She just avoided a touch on gate 23.

00:26:28 And that may be what it takes for her to to slot directly into the final.

00:26:32 We'll see that last little sprint.

00:26:33 She's going to be fine.

00:26:34 She's going to be into the final for Mallory.

00:26:37 So the Brits are going to have two finalists.

00:26:40 Oh, that was hard work.

00:26:43 I reckon she's got a couple of seconds up her sleeve, though.

00:26:46 Yeah, we'll see.

00:26:47 We'll see a final today that is perhaps extremely exciting.

00:26:52 The last paddler on the course, and she's a two time world champion.

00:26:56 She's the Olympic bronze medalist.

00:26:58 She is a phenomenal paddler.

00:26:59 She's one of the few paddlers out here who just does the C1.

00:27:04 And I think it shows the benefit that she gets from that just focusing on that.

00:27:07 Oh, Andrea.

00:27:10 That'll be a judges call.

00:27:11 Oh, yeah.

00:27:12 Give her a 50 seconds landing on the screen already.

00:27:14 Oh, no, no, no, no.

00:27:16 This is...

00:27:17 They're going to review it.

00:27:18 That is a tough one.

00:27:19 Wow, folks.

00:27:21 You're going to see her paddle as if she doesn't have a mistake.

00:27:24 And that is what you have to do, but it is also extremely hard to do psychologically.

00:27:30 Wow, folks.

00:27:32 We could be about to see something quite big happening here because she is the defending

00:27:37 world champion.

00:27:39 And she might be out of luck.

00:27:41 She might be out.

00:27:42 Elena Lillik is through, though, for Germany, so they are safe in that they have somebody

00:27:48 into the final, but they also have the quota from Krakow if they wanted it.

00:27:52 But it would be...

00:27:53 Her top a little bit low in that upstream.

00:27:54 I think she's...

00:27:55 She might know.

00:27:56 I think she might know.

00:27:57 Do you think so?

00:27:58 It's possible.

00:27:59 It doesn't look quite as sharp as we've seen from her before.

00:28:02 She would have heard...

00:28:03 In the past.

00:28:04 She would have heard the loudspeaker.

00:28:05 There is an announcer here who's calling the commentary on the way down, so she's maybe...

00:28:10 Sometimes the crowd reaction, the big "Ooooh!" and then you just...

00:28:13 You know, so...

00:28:14 Ah, it's devastating.

00:28:15 No, they're still reviewing it, and as we said, they have all sorts of camera angles

00:28:20 which they'll go over.

00:28:21 So the 50 would have been the immediate call of the judge standing on the bank.

00:28:25 Now, sometimes that judge doesn't have the best angle, so it does have to go back to

00:28:29 a camera angle.

00:28:30 And it goes by so quickly.

00:28:31 The paddlers are moving down the river so fast, it's hard to see.

00:28:36 Yeah.

00:28:37 I think...

00:28:38 She's...

00:28:39 She doesn't look surprised.

00:28:41 No, she's not looking angry.

00:28:43 She's...

00:28:44 Well, she's just looking really disappointed.

00:28:45 Devastated there.

00:28:46 So, we'll have to wait and see if there's a change, but that now is the end, and we

00:28:53 can have a look.

00:28:55 Are we going to see a replay of that?

00:28:56 Oh, gee, that's a tough one for the judges.

00:28:58 It's a bit steep in this angle, but...

00:29:00 Tough one for the judges.

00:29:01 When it's that tight, it's just...

00:29:04 Yeah, anyway.

00:29:05 Let's...

00:29:06 Okay, let's assume that the 50's going to stand.

00:29:08 So we have the top 10 confirmed.

00:29:10 And a spot in that final.

00:29:12 And a Sattila sneaks into the final.

00:29:16 Let's have a look at the countries that are through.

00:29:20 Well, let's have a look first at all of the athletes who are through, who are going to

00:29:23 compete for world titles.

00:29:25 Monica Doria-Villarubla.

00:29:26 I mean, look at the top two there, Lois.

00:29:29 Two young paddlers sitting there, one and two.

00:29:30 Isn't that exciting?

00:29:31 Yeah, I think both of those young paddlers will be just so excited to be at the top of

00:29:38 the leaderboard.

00:29:39 And just being in that final, getting the spot is, I feel like, important.

00:29:44 But just the chance to be racing for a medal at the World Championships this year is really

00:29:49 special.

00:29:50 Look at that, folks.

00:29:51 We give you an exclusive sneak peek of behind the scenes in ground control.

00:29:54 Oh, Eric, the chief judge, choking on a bit of cookie dough, I think, maybe.

00:29:59 But they're going over that run of Andrea Herzog.

00:30:04 Just making sure they...

00:30:05 There's a lot at stake here, so they want to make sure that they've got the call right

00:30:09 for Andrea.

00:30:10 Here we go.

00:30:11 Are we going to see it here?

00:30:12 This is the gate coming up here, I think.

00:30:15 And will you be the judge at home?

00:30:17 I don't know.

00:30:19 I think this is too hard for us to tell.

00:30:20 We don't have the special angle that the judges have.

00:30:23 They've got many cameras on that gate.

00:30:27 And we're seeing...

00:30:29 It's maybe still not confirmed, but we do still have Anna in 10th place.

00:30:33 The asterisk has gone away from Andrea Herzog, so that means...

00:30:36 That would be a confirmed 50-second penalty for her.

00:30:39 ...the 50 stands.

00:30:40 So let's have a look now.

00:30:41 Let's have a look, folks.

00:30:42 We can make some sense.

00:30:43 Oh, and Clara Olathabo, 11th place.

00:30:46 That's not her first time this season being 11th place.

00:30:49 That's a tough spot to be, Ross.

00:30:51 Tough, but if there's one sugar lining for it, it is that she has locked away the quota.

00:30:59 That's right.

00:31:00 She's the first of the Spanish athletes on that list.

00:31:04 So let's just have a look here at our top ten.

00:31:06 So we have Monica Doria Villarubla, Evie Liebfahr from the United States, Jessica Fox from

00:31:10 Australia, Kimberly Woods from GB, Gabi Sackhofer from Czech Republic, Ellen Ulick from Germany,

00:31:17 Mallory Franklin from GB, Susanna Pankova from Slovakia, Marjorie Delassous from France,

00:31:24 and Anna Satila from Brazil.

00:31:25 So how many countries are there?

00:31:28 Exciting final that will be this afternoon.

00:31:30 How many countries are there in that top ten then?

00:31:32 So there are two from GB in there.

00:31:37 So we're talking nine countries in the top ten.

00:31:39 Yeah.

00:31:40 So we have Spain being our tenth.

00:31:43 So Spain, Italy, and Ukraine.

00:31:47 Wow.

00:31:48 Victoria Uus will be happy to have that checkmark, but disappointed to not be racing in this

00:31:55 final today.

00:31:56 For sure.

00:31:57 And again, folks, I need to emphasize this is unofficial.

00:32:00 Nobody in the history of the world has ever taken anything I've said and taken it as gospel.

00:32:04 Why would they start now?

00:32:05 So why would you start now, especially when it comes to Olympic quotas?

00:32:08 But on my shabby reckoning, I'm going to say that the nine countries represented in the

00:32:15 final, plus Spain, plus Italy, plus Ukraine, will all earn Olympic quotas today.

00:32:25 That's my take on it.

00:32:26 So are you going to challenge me on that?

00:32:27 No, I'm going to agree with you here, but I have, again, no authority on this.

00:32:33 No, you don't.

00:32:34 But let's go with it.

00:32:36 Let's go with it.

00:32:37 Later on we can analyze the countries that have missed out.

00:32:40 Yeah, but then again, as you were saying at the beginning of the program, there is another

00:32:45 chance that the continental qualifiers, the Asian championships, the Pan Am championships.

00:32:51 We should mention, by the way, that Poland should have a qualifier as well because of

00:32:57 the second placing they put in the European championships.

00:33:01 Thank you, Lois, for joining us.

00:33:02 Are you going to come back for the final or you've got other things?

00:33:05 Anyway, we'll see how that plays out.

00:33:07 Lois.

00:33:08 Yeah, thanks for having me, Russ.

00:33:09 You're welcome, as always.

00:33:10 So the men are underway.

00:33:13 And again, 30 athletes competing for 10 positions for the men's final.

00:33:20 And it's going to be some exciting racing.

00:33:22 There's some reputations on the line.

00:33:25 There's world titles on the line.

00:33:28 And of course, those all-important Olympic quotas, which is almost as important as the

00:33:34 world titles here.

00:33:35 I mean, everybody wants to get to Paris next year.

00:33:38 And if you can do so by becoming a world champion as well, well, that's not a bad day out, is

00:33:42 it?

00:33:43 That's a pretty good run.

00:33:44 Timo Trümmer is on the course.

00:33:46 He's the first of the Germans.

00:33:48 He was fifth at the European Championships this year.

00:33:51 So he's had some early form early this season.

00:33:55 He would have watched the women, I'm sure, on the course and learned a few things about

00:33:59 where the tough parts are.

00:34:00 There does seem to be a lot of tough parts at the top of the course, a lot of mistakes

00:34:03 made there from a lot of the women athletes.

00:34:06 So we'll see how the men handle it.

00:34:09 Joining me in the commentary box now, looking like he's been for a swim, Brodie Crawford

00:34:13 from Australia.

00:34:14 How are you, my friend?

00:34:15 Hey, Russ.

00:34:16 I'm great, mate.

00:34:17 Excited to be here.

00:34:18 You're ready for an absolute ripper, aren't you, this morning?

00:34:19 I've just got off the water, run here from training.

00:34:20 Good man.

00:34:21 I'm excited to be here.

00:34:22 Yeah, we're excited to have you here, of course, preparing for the Krait Cross later on this

00:34:28 weekend.

00:34:29 Timo Trümmer's not happy with his initial run, a 105.78 with two touches, Brodie.

00:34:37 A tough first one out.

00:34:39 We saw in the women's the fastest time was set by Monika Doria-Villarugla, her raw time

00:34:45 was a 109.

00:34:48 So what would you expect, Brodie, reading into that?

00:34:50 What should the men be looking at if they want to make a top 10?

00:34:53 Hard to say.

00:34:54 I think...

00:34:55 Around 100, wouldn't it?

00:34:56 You'd have to go under 100.

00:34:58 Definitely under, I think, under 100 for sure for the top 10.

00:35:00 I reckon we'll be getting as low as probably 95.

00:35:04 And it looks like Maranitch is off to a pretty solid start here.

00:35:06 A lot of zigzagging today, Russ, compared to the qualifications.

00:35:08 Yeah, what do you make of the course?

00:35:11 Certainly we saw with the women at the top of the course there's some real challenges

00:35:15 there.

00:35:16 It's a lot of early penalties, a lot of early gate touches.

00:35:18 Yeah, it's such a contrast from Quals.

00:35:21 The qualifications course was very straight and it's actually really hard to sort of make

00:35:25 time.

00:35:26 But this one's a lot more complex, which means there is opportunity to make a lot more time

00:35:31 on if you do the moves well.

00:35:34 So yeah, it's harder, but it's also a bigger spread, I expect, from the top 10.

00:35:41 The athletes certainly looking like they're enjoying some good weather today.

00:35:45 The sun is shining.

00:35:47 It's not too hot.

00:35:48 It's pretty perfect, actually, for paddling.

00:35:51 Compared to earlier on this week, Brodie, there was a couple of very challenging days

00:35:54 on the water.

00:35:55 Oh, mate.

00:35:56 It was something else on Tuesday, let me tell you.

00:35:59 Or Wednesday.

00:36:00 It was gripping.

00:36:01 Yeah, the wind was blowing and the rain came.

00:36:03 Yeah, but like you say, it's absolutely beautiful out here.

00:36:07 So you couldn't ask for better conditions.

00:36:09 It looks like Maronitch is up on this split.

00:36:12 With a touch.

00:36:13 With a touch.

00:36:14 Yeah, he's going to be around the 100 mark, I think, by the time...

00:36:16 Oh, there's another touch there, though.

00:36:19 So that's going to be hard for him to be in the mix.

00:36:23 I think he's the only Croatian athlete, I'm pretty certain, in the field today.

00:36:29 So a lot of...

00:36:31 He was in Tokyo.

00:36:32 I think he finished 11th in Tokyo, Maronitch.

00:36:36 Yes, yep.

00:36:37 I don't know whether he's going to be good enough today.

00:36:39 He's at the fastest time at the moment.

00:36:42 But that's...

00:36:43 Yeah, like you say, the double race happening with the Olympic qualifiers.

00:36:46 So that will be close.

00:36:47 I think he'll be a bit disappointed, especially with that final touch.

00:36:51 Maybe the difference between going to the Games and not.

00:36:53 Just brutal.

00:36:54 Yeah, it really is.

00:36:55 For those who have just joined us, of course, top 10 will go through to the final later

00:37:00 on today.

00:37:01 But also, importantly, the top 12 nations will earn that quota for Paris next year.

00:37:10 Now, the Europeans have already had their championships.

00:37:14 And that was won by Team GB.

00:37:17 So they already have a quota locked away, no matter what.

00:37:20 The question is, though, if one of their paddlers gets top 12 today, well, they don't need the

00:37:25 quota from Krakow.

00:37:27 And that will then go down to the next on the list.

00:37:29 It'll keep going down the list until we find a country that didn't get a quota here today.

00:37:33 But we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves, because at the moment on the course we have

00:37:37 the first of the Italians, Puello, catch on silver in the 2015 Under-23 World Championships.

00:37:43 Brodie, early touch, though, gate 12.

00:37:46 He's looking good, though.

00:37:47 On a really solid start, just that little touch.

00:37:51 Let's see if he can pull to get to the bottom.

00:37:52 I think they're still a bit low on the S. That is a crucial move.

00:37:56 The same move that we had in the qualification runs.

00:37:58 And it was make or break, wasn't it, for a lot of people, Ross?

00:38:01 Yeah, it really, really was.

00:38:04 Disappointing, Brodie, of course, from the history.

00:38:06 No Australians in the racing today.

00:38:09 But you do have that opportunity at the continental qualifiers to still get that ticket for Paris.

00:38:14 Yeah, hugely disappointing.

00:38:15 It was a rough ride home in the car on Wednesday.

00:38:19 Yeah, we've sort of been...

00:38:21 We've had a solid season, making most of the semis.

00:38:24 So, yeah, it was pretty rough.

00:38:26 Disappointed.

00:38:27 I think it was like we saw.

00:38:30 The splits between the first and 20th in the quals was crazy tight.

00:38:35 You really had to be right on it.

00:38:37 You couldn't rest on your laurels at all.

00:38:39 So, Kwilo Cechon goes into the lead now with a gate touch, a time of 1.01.

00:38:43 So, that's a law-time sub-100 for Cechon.

00:38:47 And now Casey Eichfeld, the American.

00:38:50 He's a three-time Olympian, missed out in 2020, and it burnt.

00:38:54 And he's very, very keen to get back there for one last hurrah.

00:38:59 He says this will be his last attempt to get to the Olympics.

00:39:02 He's been there three times.

00:39:04 There's a great rivalry between himself and Zach Loken, of course, who we'll see on the course later today.

00:39:09 But Casey, a very experienced paddler.

00:39:11 He's been doing some coaching as well, Brodie, this year.

00:39:14 He was at the under-23s doing some coaching.

00:39:16 So, really putting a lot back into the sport.

00:39:18 Yeah, he looked like he was really enjoying that change of being on the bank rather than on the water.

00:39:23 But he's got a couple of small touches in the first few gates here.

00:39:26 Apart from that, he was looking very nice, very smooth.

00:39:29 They're in review, though, so we'll wait and see what the judges have to say.

00:39:32 Yep. And a really fun guy to be around, too.

00:39:35 He's been in the commentary box.

00:39:36 We only have fun people in the commentary box, Brodie.

00:39:38 That's right. Only the coolest.

00:39:40 Only the cool kids get a chance to get in through the front door to get in as part of the commentary team.

00:39:45 Ooh, opting for a spin there. Interesting move.

00:39:47 The punt off the wall.

00:39:49 You can save a bit of energy when you use the wall rather than having to sort of paddle through the water.

00:39:53 So, that's an interesting change there.

00:39:56 It's a very physical course, isn't it, Brodie?

00:39:58 It is. Yeah.

00:39:59 You can see, ladies and gentlemen at home, the white water, the white parts of the course,

00:40:03 the water pretty much stops the boat there, and you have to re-accelerate the boat every time you hit that white water.

00:40:09 And there's a lot of it here.

00:40:10 Yeah, for sure.

00:40:11 So, unfortunately for Casey, a couple of touches and getting him to spot a bobber there as well.

00:40:16 So, it's not going to be the time that he would have liked for the American, Casey Arkfeld.

00:40:23 He's going to be outside now.

00:40:25 The fourth, you can see the disappointment there, those touches hurting him.

00:40:30 And just a bit low in that last move.

00:40:32 It's a brutal move for the end of the course, Ross.

00:40:34 That stopper, that big white water there is really, really big and really hard.

00:40:39 And when your arms are burning into the bottom of the course, it's tough.

00:40:43 Now, Peng Zhang is on the course from China, looking to make his very first final

00:40:50 and also looking to try and lock away a quota for China for Paris next year.

00:40:56 Big strong man, Brady.

00:40:57 Yeah, some impressive racing from Zhang in the qualifications.

00:41:01 I hadn't seen much of him.

00:41:02 You can see there he's bit 67.

00:41:05 So, yeah, awesome racing.

00:41:06 And he had a really strong first run and second run yesterday.

00:41:09 Sorry, on Wednesday.

00:41:10 Two touches already, and that's brutal.

00:41:14 At the top of the course, to already have four seconds that you've got to make up somewhere.

00:41:19 Just looking back now at the--for the women, there were--most of the athletes in the top ten

00:41:27 got through clean.

00:41:28 There were only two athletes who had a touch in the top ten.

00:41:31 So, it's doable.

00:41:33 It's very doable.

00:41:34 There is some time, though.

00:41:35 We did see Jess Fox go around the gate at the top and claw it back.

00:41:39 That was--I was running along the side of the bank, and that was pretty exciting to watch,

00:41:42 let me tell you.

00:41:43 I think there were a couple of athletes.

00:41:44 I think Marjorie de la Souce from France as well had to go back and fix up the gate,

00:41:48 and she still got through.

00:41:50 So, it can be done.

00:41:51 There are places to make up, but you've got to be strong,

00:41:53 and you've got to be really, really confident.

00:41:55 Yeah, the mental fortitude to back yourself in and go for it,

00:41:59 to claw back that time, take the calculated risks, is really impressive.

00:42:04 We just see Zhang coming to the bottom here into the last--oh, where are we?

00:42:08 Where are we, Ross?

00:42:09 Yes, the last big drop.

00:42:10 Yep.

00:42:11 Critical move.

00:42:12 This one's brutal on the arm.

00:42:13 Let's see how he goes.

00:42:14 So, he's not going to go under the 100, unfortunately, with the two gate touches.

00:42:18 So, we're still waiting for somebody to register.

00:42:21 We've got a couple of raw times under 100, but no official time under the 100 mark,

00:42:27 which is what we think.

00:42:29 Well, Brody was suggesting we might need to look at around 95 to guarantee that top ten spot.

00:42:35 I think 95, possibly, to win, Ross.

00:42:37 Under 100, top ten.

00:42:39 I reckon we'll get a marker here because this young man, Lucas Rowan,

00:42:43 he's the silver medalist from Tokyo, hasn't had a great time of it since the Olympics,

00:42:49 I've got to say.

00:42:50 We've waited and waited to see him recapture that form that took him to the podium in Tokyo.

00:42:55 Maybe today, maybe he's a big game player, Brody Crawford.

00:42:58 Yeah, that's right.

00:42:59 He is, yeah.

00:43:00 He's been a little bit quiet.

00:43:01 He's always pretty solid, but he's definitely been quiet as far as podiums,

00:43:04 where we sort of expect him to be, top tens.

00:43:07 But, like you say, he's proven he's a big time, what do you say, big time performer.

00:43:13 Performer, sorry.

00:43:14 Yeah, absolutely.

00:43:15 Of the games.

00:43:16 Yeah.

00:43:17 And probably he's been a bit overshadowed this year by his teammate, Yuri Priskivik,

00:43:22 who everybody's been talking about because Priskivik has decided to have a go at C1 this year,

00:43:26 and I think he surprised a lot of people.

00:43:28 But Priskivik did not make it through to the top 30,

00:43:31 so a bit of pressure maybe goes off Lukas Rohan in terms of just being able to go out and be himself.

00:43:37 It's like, even though he might not be the greatest C1 paddler in the world,

00:43:42 just saying, "Oh, you're up against Yuri Priskivik,"

00:43:44 is enough to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

00:43:46 Yeah, he's a super impressive paddler, and he's doing crazy things,

00:43:49 so it's probably always in the back of your mind.

00:43:51 But this is a good run from Lukas.

00:43:53 It is.

00:43:54 And no touches yet.

00:43:55 We have not had an athlete go through clean yet,

00:43:57 so could this be our first error-free run?

00:44:01 Looking good at the moment, and now he's up on the split.

00:44:03 Yeah, just continually building on the run, clawing back that deficit he had at the start.

00:44:08 Let's see how he goes in this last move, going for the spin,

00:44:11 which means he spun the boat 360 degrees to catch this wave.

00:44:14 Ooh, that looks good too.

00:44:15 Ooh, that was good, Ross.

00:44:16 Really good.

00:44:17 Here comes your 97, I reckon, 97-second time, which will be--

00:44:22 Ooh, 99.

00:44:24 --blowing out.

00:44:25 Ooh, gee.

00:44:26 He's happy, though.

00:44:27 He thinks that's good enough.

00:44:29 Yeah, just watching that run, I think that'll be good enough.

00:44:34 A bit slow on that last little bit there, but still 100,

00:44:37 and interesting that reaction that he thinks that might be okay.

00:44:42 Now, here is a man--and my apologies to our Brazilian fans.

00:44:46 I was surprised to see Charles into the semi.

00:44:49 I'm happy to see him here because he's a great individual,

00:44:52 and he's an exciting paddler to watch.

00:44:54 He used to spend a lot of time in his early days doing C2,

00:44:58 so it's good to see him doing the C1 and putting it out there for the Brazilians.

00:45:02 Yeah, absolutely.

00:45:03 I haven't seen Charles for years.

00:45:05 For years.

00:45:06 Yeah, and then he walks up here, and I actually was watching him a bit in training

00:45:08 because they were after us, and he was doing some really nice stuff, so very impressive.

00:45:13 I can't remember seeing him in a World Cup in recent times.

00:45:17 Look at that, Ross, almost two seconds up.

00:45:20 Where has he been?

00:45:21 I'll tell you what, he's been training.

00:45:23 Slaloming down the Amazon.

00:45:26 Oh, look at that.

00:45:27 He's doing some trick moves there, and that's unfortunately--

00:45:31 That was costly.

00:45:33 Wait for this next split.

00:45:34 How frustrating would that be, just going up and down in the one spot there

00:45:37 for Charles Correa from Brazil.

00:45:40 I think he's our only Brazilian paddler here in this semifinal,

00:45:45 so a lot of pressure on him, but of course he will get a chance

00:45:48 at Continentals later this year if they don't get through--

00:45:52 if he doesn't get through today into top 12.

00:45:54 Oh, that could be a 50.

00:45:56 Oh, sorry, Charles.

00:45:58 Oh, no.

00:45:59 Sorry, Charles.

00:46:00 The judges saw that the way I did.

00:46:03 They're going to review it, but it looked--

00:46:05 Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

00:46:07 Just, yeah, something to fall apart a bit, isn't it?

00:46:10 Yep.

00:46:11 It's not been the best run now for Charles Correa,

00:46:18 but he'll keep his powder dry now until the Continentals

00:46:22 and do his best to try and get Brazil a ticket there.

00:46:26 Yeah, for sure.

00:46:27 He's got to take some confidence away from this event.

00:46:29 I mean, the last time he was on a big start line was a while ago,

00:46:32 and he performed so well on those qualifications despite the pressure.

00:46:36 So they're still reviewing that 50, but it's not going to make any difference anyway.

00:46:39 Even without the 50, he is well and truly down the board,

00:46:44 the leaderboard for Charles Correa.

00:46:48 Now the first of the Polish paddlers, Kasper Stuber, is on the course.

00:46:54 2017 junior world champion, Brodie Crawford, he was.

00:46:58 Yep.

00:46:59 He's capable of some really good stuff.

00:47:01 He's a big, strong guy, and, yeah,

00:47:03 we've seen some really fast runs from him over the years.

00:47:06 Not the most consistent, but when he's on, he's really on.

00:47:10 Look at his first split, two seconds up, Ross.

00:47:12 Yeah, really positive start for Kasper.

00:47:15 He's one of two Polish paddlers who are in action today in the semifinals,

00:47:25 trying to get through to that top ten, that final position,

00:47:29 but also, importantly, trying to make sure that they are one of the top 12 nations today,

00:47:35 which will give them a ticket to Paris next year.

00:47:39 Yeah, absolutely.

00:47:41 It is brutal to be a European and try and get to the Olympic Games.

00:47:45 There's so many good paddlers, so many countries paddling Canoe Slalom,

00:47:49 and that will be in the back of all these guys from Europe that are paddling today.

00:47:52 And interestingly, Brodie, because it doesn't usually happen,

00:47:55 but because of the European Games, the Europeans have already had their continental qualifiers,

00:48:01 so there's no second chance.

00:48:02 Correct.

00:48:03 Normally the year after, isn't there?

00:48:05 Oh, that's a big touch for Kasper, this is not.

00:48:07 Yeah, it's normally the year after,

00:48:09 they will determine, as they did in the women,

00:48:12 Poland already know that they've got a quota because of their second place in Krakow.

00:48:18 They didn't get one today, but they got one in Krakow,

00:48:20 so that's the way I read it, that's the way that will unfold.

00:48:26 And unfortunately for Kasper, that's not going to be good enough.

00:48:29 He'll be kicking himself such a great first half to that race.

00:48:32 He was on fire.

00:48:34 A 1.07 for Kasper.

00:48:39 Now, the second of the Czechs,

00:48:41 all three of the Czechs had to do a second run to get through to the semifinals.

00:48:47 It was a nervous wait for them.

00:48:49 Two of them got through.

00:48:50 The only one who missed out was Yuri Prischkevic,

00:48:52 but Václav Čaloupka, who is a, wow, that was smooth, wasn't it?

00:48:55 That was millimetres against that guy, wasn't it?

00:48:57 Well done.

00:48:58 2021 World Champion, finished third at the European Championships this year.

00:49:03 We know he's super, super fast.

00:49:05 And at the moment, the man sitting at the top of the leaderboard is his teammate,

00:49:09 Lukáš Roan, so can he get up there and challenge the time set by Lukáš?

00:49:14 I'm pretty certain, Brodie, you might know that this World Championships

00:49:20 also is part of the Czech qualifying for the Olympics.

00:49:23 Yes, I believe it is.

00:49:24 I'm not sure exactly how many races there are or what,

00:49:28 but, yeah, this is definitely part of the selection.

00:49:31 So that's just something else for you to think about at home as well.

00:49:34 For many countries, it's head-to-head, just trying to get points.

00:49:38 Different countries have different modes of how to keep score, etc., etc.

00:49:44 Some people give extra weight.

00:49:46 Oh, great save there.

00:49:51 Some people give extra weight to World Championships, etc., of course.

00:49:54 Others, it's just another race in part of the selection process,

00:49:57 so I'm not going to second-guess how it all works,

00:50:00 but I'm going to say that it's a good save there from Čalupka,

00:50:02 and his split time is good.

00:50:03 He's going well here.

00:50:04 He's a super solid, consistent paddler.

00:50:07 Nothing usually does looks risky, even though he did have to save

00:50:10 for something back there.

00:50:13 Oh, yeah, the reviews come off and go through.

00:50:15 No, nothing of your 19.

00:50:17 I didn't see a touch there.

00:50:18 No, I think they've been--

00:50:20 Here we go.

00:50:21 We're going to go close to 100.

00:50:22 Is he going to go under?

00:50:23 Oh, no, he's just outside.

00:50:25 Just into second position.

00:50:28 Checks are throwing down.

00:50:30 They are throwing down.

00:50:31 We're still waiting, though, for the first time, official time, under 100.

00:50:38 I tell you, should we nominate a four-time Olympian to become the first person

00:50:43 to go under 100?

00:50:44 Why not?

00:50:45 Yes.

00:50:46 Takuya Haneda.

00:50:48 When you think back, 2008, Brodie, he was competing at the Olympics.

00:50:54 How old were you then?

00:50:55 I hadn't started kiking yet.

00:50:57 No.

00:50:58 No.

00:50:59 I remember seeing him when I was training at Penrith in Sydney when I was about 12 years old,

00:51:03 and he was already very good then.

00:51:05 And they've spent-- the Japanese have spent a lot of time here,

00:51:09 so he'll be looking to capitalize on all that experience.

00:51:12 Of course, made headlines when he won a bronze medal at the Olympics in Rio in 2016

00:51:20 and just has kept on going.

00:51:22 And I know competing in the hometown Olympics in Tokyo was something pretty special for him.

00:51:28 The fact they couldn't get family and friends in and crowds in was a major disappointment,

00:51:32 but it's great to see him still going and trying to get to that fifth Olympic Games,

00:51:37 which is just a phenomenal effort, isn't it, to be able to go to five Olympics in your career.

00:51:42 That is something that's pretty wild.

00:51:44 And he's put together a really nice run here, slightly down in the first split,

00:51:48 but everything I've seen has looked really solid and smooth.

00:51:51 He was-- his second run-- so he needed two runs to get through to the semi.

00:51:56 His second run, he was the fastest in the second run.

00:51:58 It was a really, really good run, something we've come to expect from Haneda at the top level.

00:52:05 And he just needs now-- he's clean so far.

00:52:08 He's a little conservative at the bottom here.

00:52:11 Oh, just taking a touch.

00:52:13 Got to go now. Fast gate.

00:52:15 Yep. He's got to really work hard now.

00:52:17 He's got to make up some time.

00:52:19 He's going to be not as smooth.

00:52:21 He's blowing out now of the time, unfortunately.

00:52:25 This is going to be a nervous race now for the man from Japan.

00:52:30 Yeah, goes into eighth.

00:52:32 He's not going to be all that happy with that, unfortunately, for Haneda.

00:52:35 Again, though, he will get a chance at the Asian qualifiers to--

00:52:39 I think he's the only Japanese paddler today.

00:52:42 If they don't get the quota here, he can get them at the Asian qualifiers.

00:52:48 Now, the funny man, the funny man of world paddling, Thomas Cotswin, from Switzerland.

00:52:55 He's also been to a couple of-- well, he was in Tokyo,

00:52:58 and he's a silver medalist in the 2017 European Championships.

00:53:04 Yep, he is quite a character.

00:53:06 He is a radical paddler, though, Ross.

00:53:09 Very.

00:53:10 He's either flying or it's all sort of falling apart.

00:53:13 Yeah, he can be really fast, but he's been a bit inconsistent of late.

00:53:17 So let's see if he can throw it down here.

00:53:21 My first time I met him, he was in Penrith at the Under-23 World Championships,

00:53:25 and I don't know whether you remember, Brodie,

00:53:27 but he was unfolding the tent flap for the Swiss tent,

00:53:31 and a big Australian spider fell out and landed on--

00:53:34 I do remember that. Yeah, that was very funny.

00:53:36 It was funny for everybody else except for him because he thought he was going to be eaten.

00:53:40 He thought he was going to be eaten by this spider

00:53:42 because he'd heard that all spiders in Australia can eat you just while you're standing there.

00:53:45 Yeah, it was an absolute whopper too.

00:53:47 It was a huge-- It was a big spider.

00:53:50 Not poisonous, I don't think. I think it was one of those harmless--

00:53:52 the Huntsman spiders. Yes, yeah, it was.

00:53:54 True Australian experience. Yes.

00:53:57 Anyway, threw him off his game a little bit for the next day or so.

00:54:01 But he seems to have recovered, and he seems to be going all right at the moment.

00:54:04 Yeah, this is nice, Ross. Looking very nice.

00:54:08 A little slow on the last S. I think that's where he sort of lost that second there, but--

00:54:13 Oh, just dropped-- Oh, dropped the final.

00:54:15 Now he's going to be in trouble.

00:54:17 Come on, Tom, go. Got to go now.

00:54:19 Everything-- Empty the tank.

00:54:21 Throw it all out on the line. He's not going to be--

00:54:26 Top five. He's gone into seventh.

00:54:29 That has got to be--

00:54:31 And he knows now that that's going to be difficult.

00:54:35 Yeah, I mean, we're looking at two races here.

00:54:37 That's not going to be good enough for the final, Ross,

00:54:39 but also we're thinking, will that be quota?

00:54:41 Top 12 nations is what they're also looking for in this race to qualify for the Olympics.

00:54:45 I think that would be very close.

00:54:47 Awesome.

00:54:48 Just now talk about excitement machines.

00:54:51 This young guy, 15 years of age--

00:54:53 Unbelievable, Ross.

00:54:54 --when he became the junior world champion this year.

00:54:59 And, I mean, he's from such a--

00:55:01 Oh.

00:55:02 --oh, a famous paddling family.

00:55:05 And he's out there now as a 15-year-old.

00:55:07 Oh, but he might have some trouble there.

00:55:10 Oh, my goodness.

00:55:12 Oh, my goodness.

00:55:14 That was rough and ready.

00:55:16 Yeah, just not making quite enough space on gate five.

00:55:19 And then it just--it snowballed as it normally does in Slalom.

00:55:22 You lose a little bit of space, and then the next three gates you've lost.

00:55:25 The judges have given him a 50.

00:55:27 They will go back and have a look at it.

00:55:28 It was tight.

00:55:30 But he looked like he'd lost control between those gates,

00:55:33 unfortunately for the young man from Slovenia.

00:55:38 So that's going to be tough.

00:55:40 But he's so young, he's got such a big career in front of him.

00:55:45 And, of course, he will--he's from such a powerful C1 nation.

00:55:52 Of course, you've got Luka Bozic, you've got Benny Savcek.

00:55:56 I mean, it's not bad blokes to be training alongside, is it?

00:55:58 Oh, yeah.

00:55:59 Yeah, they all have such a beautiful style.

00:56:01 It's so efficient.

00:56:02 Like, they just don't seem like they're sort of pushing that hard.

00:56:06 They obviously are, but, yeah, they use the water so well.

00:56:10 It's good to see him finishing strong here despite the early mistakes.

00:56:15 So we are still waiting for somebody to go under 100.

00:56:19 The top two paddlers at the moment, they are both Czechs,

00:56:22 Lukas Roan and Václav Čeluka, sitting there in first and second.

00:56:26 You would expect by the end of today that they won't be at the top of the leaderboard,

00:56:30 but will they be in the mix for a final?

00:56:33 And you can see, yeah, he knows--he knew that was close.

00:56:37 Yeah.

00:56:38 And, unfortunately, if we have a look here, this is where--this is the way they gave him the--

00:56:42 Yeah.

00:56:43 That's borderline, wasn't it?

00:56:44 That is borderline.

00:56:45 He's got a very bright future ahead, though.

00:56:47 So the top--all of the head has to go through, basically, and part of the boat.

00:56:52 Brodie, that's right, isn't it?

00:56:54 Correct, yep.

00:56:55 Part of the boat.

00:56:56 Whole head.

00:56:57 Watch for the chin.

00:56:58 It's got to be under.

00:56:59 Chin has to be--

00:57:00 Here's the--here we are, the shaving cream man, Luis Fernandez, is on the course,

00:57:06 the first of our Spaniards today, and bronze at the European Team event in 2022.

00:57:15 Yeah, this is a Pablo Ross.

00:57:16 He's come in leaps and bounds over the last few years.

00:57:18 He always has--he impresses me every year.

00:57:20 He gets better and better.

00:57:21 And I think--I don't know if you remember from Laseo last weekend, he was on the run of his life.

00:57:26 He was borderline going to win gold, maybe silver, and just got the smallest of 50-second penalties,

00:57:32 not quite having the whole head in the gate.

00:57:34 Yeah, that's right.

00:57:35 He's on form.

00:57:36 He's quick at the moment.

00:57:37 If you're going to be in form now is the time to do it because this is when it's all been laid on the line

00:57:42 here in Lee Valley.

00:57:44 Ooh, that was a bit tight for him, but he's okay.

00:57:47 He's on a good split at the moment for Luis Fernandez from Spain.

00:57:52 The man he wants to get under--oh, there's a two-second penalty.

00:57:54 The man he wants to get under is Lukasz Rowan, who's in 100.01 is his time.

00:58:01 Ooh, he's in that without the touch, which is being reviewed.

00:58:05 I didn't see it, Ross, but it may have been a slight touch.

00:58:08 We'll have to wait and see.

00:58:10 He'll also be thinking about his teammate coming down, Trave, who is a very fast pedal.

00:58:16 That's a real big bump.

00:58:17 Yeah, definite touch there.

00:58:18 Definite touch there, unfortunately, on gate 23.

00:58:20 So that's going to bump him out of the mix there.

00:58:24 Yes, Mikel Trave was unbelievable in the qualifying run, wasn't he, with a touch?

00:58:29 He was lightning.

00:58:30 So fast.

00:58:32 But that's still to come.

00:58:34 So Luis Fernandez, look at that.

00:58:35 Look at the disappointment, folks.

00:58:37 You tell me at home that these races don't mean anything.

00:58:41 Yeah, it's tough.

00:58:42 What a week this man has had.

00:58:44 So he came here to Lee Valley.

00:58:47 His girlfriend was home pregnant.

00:58:48 She was due--he'd had it all mapped out perfectly.

00:58:51 He was going to come here, become world champion, earn a quota for Slovenia for the Olympics.

00:58:57 He was going to go home from here, witness the birth of his first child,

00:59:00 and then he was going to go to Paris for the test event.

00:59:03 At 3 o'clock on Sunday morning, he got a phone call from his girlfriend

00:59:08 suggesting he get off his backside and get home as quick as he possibly can

00:59:11 because their baby was on the way.

00:59:14 He got home.

00:59:15 The little boy was born.

00:59:17 He spent the day--he got on a 6 a.m. flight, spent the day in Ljubljana

00:59:21 with his new baby boy and his girlfriend, and then flew back on Saturday night

00:59:27 and was back on the water the next morning training.

00:59:29 What a week it's been for him.

00:59:31 Unbelievable, yeah.

00:59:32 And here he is now out there trying to earn himself a spot in the final.

00:59:37 He's got something special.

00:59:39 He won gold in Tassin, Brodie, earlier this year in front of his home fans.

00:59:44 Yeah, he's a regular on the podium.

00:59:46 He's won these world races.

00:59:48 Ooh, was that a touch?

00:59:50 Are they going to give that a touch, or was that a water splash?

00:59:53 Not a lot of wind here today, so if the gates are moving,

00:59:56 a suggestion that the judges will have a look at it.

00:59:59 The split's looking good, though.

01:00:00 Looking very good.

01:00:02 A guy who I think, Brodie, it's fair to say that we've not seen the best of

01:00:06 at a world--his best performance at a world championship level is a bronze,

01:00:10 and we know that he's better than that.

01:00:12 We know that he is a world champion quality.

01:00:14 He's definitely one of the fastest paddlers out there today.

01:00:18 But, Ross, let's be honest, he's got no one to blame,

01:00:21 no one to blame but himself for that childbirth.

01:00:24 Don't you think about these things when you're making the baby?

01:00:27 Yeah, well, I don't mind.

01:00:28 Yeah, I do.

01:00:29 Nine months.

01:00:30 It's easy for you to say, mate.

01:00:31 You've got none.

01:00:34 Please think--look, when we're off air,

01:00:36 I'll give you a little lesson on the birds and the bees.

01:00:39 But Luka Bozic slips into third place, no touches.

01:00:43 There's a bit of a log jam building up there around the 100-second mark, Brodie,

01:00:47 which is going to make it very interesting as we get towards--this will be our test.

01:00:50 If Sidera's Tasiades doesn't go under 100,

01:00:53 then I think I'm prepared to put my neck on the line and say 100 is going to be good enough

01:00:57 to get through because this man here, he's the reigning world champion.

01:01:03 He's won silver and bronze at the Olympics, and we just know he's a speed machine.

01:01:08 Yeah, he certainly is.

01:01:10 Oh, look at that.

01:01:11 Here he comes.

01:01:12 He's winding up now.

01:01:13 He really is.

01:01:14 He's got the Jess Fox turbo boost happening.

01:01:17 Going the direct there, too.

01:01:19 Far out.

01:01:20 Oh, and he nails it.

01:01:21 Oh, does he, though.

01:01:22 Pretty solid.

01:01:23 Yep.

01:01:24 So Sidera's Tasiades is wanting to go and lay down a time here

01:01:29 that's going to make everybody else sit up and take notice.

01:01:33 Good so far.

01:01:34 Really, really fast for Tasiades.

01:01:37 2012 he won his first medal at the Olympics.

01:01:42 2020 in Tokyo he won another one, so he's just -- he wants that gold.

01:01:48 He wants to get his hand on a gold medal at the Olympics.

01:01:51 But you've got to get there first.

01:01:52 Yeah, absolutely.

01:01:53 And also this weekend, and we're actually talking about this, me and my teammates,

01:01:57 on the way here about world championships,

01:01:59 and two world championships is rarefied air in this sport, isn't it, Ross?

01:02:02 There's not many that have done that, two world champions.

01:02:05 No, no.

01:02:06 Especially in the competitive men's.

01:02:09 I mean, you're looking at people like Tony Estanguair and Mikhail Martykin

01:02:13 and guys like that.

01:02:14 Yeah.

01:02:15 That is --

01:02:16 This is quick, Ross.

01:02:17 I think this is sub 100.

01:02:18 Well and truly.

01:02:19 This is at like a 98 for Sidera's Tasiades as he comes down now to the finish line.

01:02:23 Look at that.

01:02:24 Ooh.

01:02:25 Ooh.

01:02:28 He likes that.

01:02:29 He does like that.

01:02:30 He's got that look that, yeah, look, it gives us that angry look

01:02:34 and then gives us a friendly little wave.

01:02:36 Yeah, that doesn't cut it with us, Sidera.

01:02:38 So we know what that means for you.

01:02:40 And what a run to put down for this man to take notice of, Matej Banusz.

01:02:44 Oh, yeah.

01:02:45 This is another big, strong guy.

01:02:47 And there's also an Olympic race happening between the Slovakians here as well

01:02:52 at Lee Valley.

01:02:53 So that will be in the back of their minds, the extra pressure.

01:02:56 Yes.

01:02:57 In fact, I think his teammate, Margarosti, got ahead of him at the last --

01:03:02 at Les Salles, which was their first qualifying event.

01:03:05 So Banusz will be wanting to finish ahead of Margarosti,

01:03:08 who's still to come here today.

01:03:10 But first to do that, you want to get yourself into a final.

01:03:13 So Sidera's Tasiades, our first man under 100, not by a lot,

01:03:17 but he is under 100.

01:03:19 So who else can match him?

01:03:21 Yeah, this is a very nice start from Banusz.

01:03:24 I think he's going to be in touch with this split.

01:03:26 We'll wait and see.

01:03:27 We're about to get on our screens now.

01:03:29 The silver medalist from the Rio Olympics, Matej Banusz,

01:03:34 part of an incredibly strong Slovakian team,

01:03:39 and they have been for so many years.

01:03:42 They've just been one of the leaders in men's canoe sport.

01:03:47 Been a bit of a production line of top-class athletes when you have

01:03:49 Mikhail Marek and Alexander Slavkoski, Matej Banusz.

01:03:52 Yeah, absolutely.

01:03:53 Marco Margarosti.

01:03:54 These are all outstanding international paddlers.

01:03:57 Banusz's time is -- oh, there you go.

01:03:59 He is up on the split.

01:04:01 Now we're seeing the quality coming through, Brodie Crawford.

01:04:04 Yeah, wow.

01:04:05 Tasiades was so good.

01:04:07 It's amazing that he's a second up on that time.

01:04:09 Let's see if he can finish strong.

01:04:11 A little held up.

01:04:13 Yeah, a little bit slow there.

01:04:15 Watch for this sprint.

01:04:16 This is a world record-winning sprint.

01:04:18 He's the DR Sprint World Champion as well, Ross.

01:04:20 Is he really?

01:04:21 Yes, he is.

01:04:22 He's going to go under 100, I think.

01:04:24 He's a man who doesn't show a lot of emotion.

01:04:26 And there you go.

01:04:27 He's almost on cue.

01:04:28 Oh, my God, that's great, mate.

01:04:30 That's great emotion.

01:04:31 Come on, Matej.

01:04:32 Look how happy my friend.

01:04:34 That's a good time.

01:04:36 You've moved into third.

01:04:37 Is it enough?

01:04:38 He's probably a little nervous, but I think he'll be okay.

01:04:42 How many to come, Ross?

01:04:43 Well, we've had 16, so we've got 14 to go, which means we're going

01:04:49 to start getting to being able to work out the top 12, Brodie,

01:04:52 for Paris slots.

01:04:55 Yeah.

01:04:56 Might even be able to start doing that now because there's a couple

01:04:58 of countries that have doubled up, but I don't have the time

01:05:02 or the brain to do that just now, but we'll look at it in just a moment

01:05:05 because at the moment we're watching Gregor Hedwig from Poland again.

01:05:10 Wow.

01:05:11 He's up on that split again.

01:05:12 This is unbelievable.

01:05:13 Wow.

01:05:14 Now we're starting to see some world-class times.

01:05:17 He is a two-time Olympian, of course, Hedwig.

01:05:19 Oh, that can't be right.

01:05:21 I don't think he's 11 seconds up on Sideris Tassiatis.

01:05:23 If he is, he's missed a couple of gates somewhere

01:05:25 and nobody had noticed.

01:05:26 That split should be coming in in this spot here,

01:05:28 so I think it's been hit a bit early.

01:05:29 Yes.

01:05:30 Somebody got excited, probably more excited than us even, Brodie,

01:05:33 and we are very excited.

01:05:36 So Hedwig, yes, two-time Olympian, Junior World Champion from way back.

01:05:42 Guess when he became Junior World Champion, Brodie?

01:05:46 I've got no idea, Ross.

01:05:47 2006.

01:05:49 Wow.

01:05:50 So that's not a bad career, is it?

01:05:52 No, it's still--

01:05:54 Oh, how's that for a move, folks?

01:05:56 You could take a video of that and patent it.

01:05:59 It was beautiful.

01:06:00 Throws him up on the split.

01:06:01 Unbelievable.

01:06:02 Yes, this is nice.

01:06:04 Oh, and the man from Poland just--

01:06:08 Finish it, Hedwig.

01:06:09 Yes, yes, yes.

01:06:10 He's okay.

01:06:11 This is going to be nice.

01:06:12 This is good.

01:06:13 We've got another man going under 100, Gregor Hedwig from Poland.

01:06:18 This is the lead, I think, Ross, 98?

01:06:20 I think you might be right.

01:06:21 Wow.

01:06:22 Wow.

01:06:23 Although I am the messiah.

01:06:24 I am the messiah.

01:06:25 All bow down in front of me, and I'll give you a bang on the head.

01:06:30 Gregor Hedwig is our new race leader, folks.

01:06:34 Would you have predicted that at the start of the day?

01:06:36 I would not.

01:06:37 That was-- he's always sort of up amongst the top ten, not consistently,

01:06:40 but that was an awesome run.

01:06:42 Well done, Hedwig.

01:06:43 Now, speaking of quality athletes, Mr. Franz Anton from Germany.

01:06:50 What can we say about Franz?

01:06:51 He's a 2018 world champion.

01:06:54 He's won bronze at the past two world championships.

01:07:00 Wow.

01:07:01 Super consistent.

01:07:02 Yep.

01:07:03 Great photographer too, Ross.

01:07:04 Fantastic photographer.

01:07:05 Fantastic bloke too, just genuinely a nice bloke.

01:07:09 Possibly his last Olympic campaign.

01:07:11 I mean, I don't want to--

01:07:12 It's hard to know, isn't it?

01:07:13 It is hard to know.

01:07:15 He's getting on, but he's aging like a fine wine.

01:07:18 Yes, he is.

01:07:19 Let's see him go.

01:07:20 He's up on the first split, so a nice start here for Franz Anton.

01:07:25 This is fast as well, Ross.

01:07:26 I think this might be up on the second split.

01:07:28 It's going to be close.

01:07:29 And do you remember, Brodie, before Tokyo, the competition between himself

01:07:33 and Tasiades for that spot?

01:07:36 Because Germany missed out--

01:07:38 They did, yes.

01:07:40 --at the world championship qualifiers, and they had to go through the Europeans.

01:07:44 It was nerve-wracking.

01:07:45 It was, yeah.

01:07:46 For the viewers at home, leading into that world champs where they missed the

01:07:49 quota, I think they were like second and fourth-ranked paddlers in the world.

01:07:52 So it was a huge upset, but they did claim it, like you say, Ross,

01:07:55 at the following European champs.

01:07:57 I mean, it was a huge contest between Anton and Tasiades for that Olympic spot,

01:08:02 and in the end, Tasiades got it.

01:08:05 Franz losing a little bit here.

01:08:06 I haven't seen any huge mistakes, but maybe he's a little bit conservative

01:08:10 on that bottom third.

01:08:12 He's got to go for it.

01:08:13 Yes, I don't think--

01:08:14 Unfortunately for Franz, he might have lost a little bit too much time.

01:08:17 He's going to be outside the 100, so that's going to be difficult for Franz Anton

01:08:23 from Germany.

01:08:24 He's going to have a nervous--

01:08:25 Yeah, no, he's going to be outside the top ten, I think, or eighth.

01:08:27 Eighth.

01:08:28 Yeah, not sure.

01:08:32 Unfortunately for Franz Anton.

01:08:35 I think that-- yeah, that might be the end of his world championships.

01:08:38 We'll have to wait and see.

01:08:40 It was a deceiving run.

01:08:41 It looked good, Ross.

01:08:42 Didn't see many huge mistakes, but there you go.

01:08:46 Water can be unforgiving.

01:08:48 Liam Jagu from Ireland now, Tokyo Olympian, under-23 bronze medalist

01:08:55 from 2019, spends a lot of time training in France.

01:08:58 Yes.

01:08:59 And paddled really, really well.

01:09:01 He's running the qualifiers.

01:09:03 He's very good, Brodie.

01:09:04 Yeah, he was.

01:09:05 He's a super quick paddler, really nice bloke as well.

01:09:08 Oh, look at that split.

01:09:09 Wow.

01:09:10 But there is a huge race on here as well, Ross, for the Irish Olympic spot.

01:09:16 If there's a clear winner today out of Liam and Rob Hendrick,

01:09:20 who's yet to come, they will win the quota and their spot--

01:09:24 Already?

01:09:25 --at the Games.

01:09:26 Already?

01:09:27 Yep.

01:09:28 Wow.

01:09:29 If it's close and they're both within quota, it'll go down to Oceania in Australia.

01:09:33 It's the inside scoop.

01:09:34 What are they doing competing in Oceania?

01:09:36 Who wouldn't want to come to Australia in the summer?

01:09:38 They're going to Australia and compete in the Oceanias.

01:09:40 Well, Ireland is an island, same as Australia.

01:09:42 They actually were one of the few countries that were here this summer,

01:09:46 in Australia this summer.

01:09:48 So it's really nice to have them out.

01:09:50 Well, it's a good run.

01:09:51 This is beautiful.

01:09:52 Well done, Liam.

01:09:53 Let's keep it up.

01:09:54 Here comes the critical S move.

01:09:55 Yeah.

01:09:56 Ooh.

01:09:57 Maybe not as smooth as you would have liked, but it's not bad.

01:10:00 The splits-- oh, he's down now, though.

01:10:04 It's getting-- oh!

01:10:06 It's OK.

01:10:07 He went through the gate OK, I think, didn't he?

01:10:09 I think that's going to be OK.

01:10:11 Well, they gave him a 50.

01:10:12 Oh, no.

01:10:13 Oh, and he's given up.

01:10:14 He's given up.

01:10:15 He's given up the ghost.

01:10:17 Oh, Liam.

01:10:18 Oh, that's bloody heartbreaking, Ross.

01:10:21 That is.

01:10:22 It is.

01:10:23 Oh, far out.

01:10:24 Oh, look at that.

01:10:25 Oh, no, that is heartbreaking.

01:10:28 That's hard to watch.

01:10:30 It was all going so well.

01:10:33 Wow.

01:10:35 Bloody hell.

01:10:36 Oh, you can say that again if you like.

01:10:38 It's-- he's always right.

01:10:39 That is tough.

01:10:40 Yeah.

01:10:41 Oh, wow.

01:10:43 Wow.

01:10:44 That's the pressure, though, Brodie Crawford, isn't it?

01:10:46 That is the pressure of--

01:10:47 And you know, I know what that means to him.

01:10:49 It's just-- it's hard to watch far out.

01:10:51 But on to the next paddler.

01:10:53 We go on, Ross.

01:10:54 We do go on.

01:10:55 And it's going to make Robert Hendricks run a little bit

01:10:57 later on, something important to watch.

01:10:59 Yes.

01:11:00 But Zach Loken, Tokyo Olympian, won a silver medal in tuxedo

01:11:05 this year, and he was over the moon.

01:11:07 It was a fantastic-- oh, look at that split.

01:11:09 He is up.

01:11:10 He's hit the-- hit the water running.

01:11:12 Yeah, he's coming off an awesome experience, career high.

01:11:15 So he'll have a lot of confidence coming in to this event.

01:11:18 Yep.

01:11:19 The Loken family are here in force, cheering on their boy.

01:11:23 And he is looking good, Zach Loken, wanting to get top 10

01:11:27 and wanting to lock that Olympic quota away for the Americans.

01:11:32 And great contest between himself and Casey Eichfeld

01:11:35 for that Olympic spot.

01:11:36 I'm not quite sure what their-- do you know what their program is for?

01:11:40 No.

01:11:41 I don't think it's decided here, Ross, but don't quote me.

01:11:43 I'm pretty sure it's not decided here.

01:11:45 OK.

01:11:46 Yeah.

01:11:47 So at this stage, though, you've got to get that quota first of all.

01:11:49 Yeah.

01:11:50 Zach Loken is-- this is nice.

01:11:52 He's in the mix well and truly.

01:11:55 Oh, that was nice.

01:11:56 This is beautiful.

01:11:57 Yep, he's going along nicely.

01:11:58 This is-- he's two seconds outside Hedwig's time,

01:12:01 but he can pick up a bit of time.

01:12:02 Oh, no, again.

01:12:04 Two in a row.

01:12:05 Oh, no, no, no, no.

01:12:08 Oh, dear, oh, dear.

01:12:10 That's two paddlers in a row.

01:12:12 What have they done?

01:12:13 Have they just turned the water on a bit?

01:12:14 That is unbelievable.

01:12:16 It's the exact same thing, Ross.

01:12:18 Exact spot.

01:12:19 Loken went back, though, and did the gate again, but oh, my goodness.

01:12:26 That is unbelievable, folks watching at home.

01:12:29 That is what's on the line here.

01:12:31 Guys are taking risks.

01:12:32 They're putting everything out there, and if it comes off, it looks beautiful,

01:12:36 and if it doesn't, it's a tough, tough-- good on you, Zach Loken, though,

01:12:40 for finishing that race.

01:12:42 Oh, yeah, look at that.

01:12:44 Tell me it doesn't mean anything, folks.

01:12:46 Tell me it doesn't mean anything to these athletes.

01:12:49 Oh, the heartbreak.

01:12:52 The heartbreak for Zachary Loken, the bug, they call him.

01:12:57 Oh, my heart.

01:13:00 Ryan Wesley has an early gate touch.

01:13:04 You'll hear the crowd.

01:13:05 The British crowd have turned out in force today.

01:13:07 They love their canoe slalom.

01:13:09 They love Lee Valley, and they love--you can see that.

01:13:11 Look at that, folks, on the bank behind, the fans there,

01:13:14 the support team getting behind Ryan Wesley.

01:13:18 Yeah, he's in awesome form.

01:13:20 He's just come off a European Championship win.

01:13:23 I expect him to be up there.

01:13:25 He was actually--yeah, he's one of the favorites, I think, for this weekend.

01:13:28 He's got an early touch, though, like you say.

01:13:30 He's got to go now.

01:13:31 Gave himself a bit of work early on.

01:13:33 He has.

01:13:34 We saw the British crowd lift up their two female paddlers in the women's C1

01:13:38 with both Kimberly Woods and Mallory Franklin getting through.

01:13:41 A couple of Brits in action here in the men.

01:13:43 Can Wesley lock himself--oh, Ryan Wesley giving the judges some work to do.

01:13:48 I think it's all good, though.

01:13:49 He's tight.

01:13:50 Yep.

01:13:51 A little bit of tough love now coming the way of this course

01:13:55 courtesy of Ryan Wesley's punishment of the water.

01:13:58 He's got to have a good finish here, Ross.

01:13:59 He's got a new bubble.

01:14:01 Top ten.

01:14:02 Let's see how he goes down here through the--now, this is where it's been interesting.

01:14:08 Let's see what Ryan Wesley does.

01:14:10 Can he nail this move?

01:14:12 I think his time's blowing out.

01:14:14 This is going to be a bit tough for him.

01:14:16 He's going to be close.

01:14:17 He's going to be just over the 100, though,

01:14:19 so it's going to be a nervous, nervous race for him.

01:14:22 He's going to go.

01:14:23 Yeah.

01:14:25 Eight.

01:14:27 Ryan Wesley.

01:14:29 You can see that touch at the top of the course could be a game changer.

01:14:34 You take that two seconds off, Ryan Wesley, and he goes under 100.

01:14:38 I would not have expected that, Ross.

01:14:40 I would have thought he was almost a guarantee in that top ten on his home course.

01:14:43 Yep.

01:14:44 Just shows you the quality is so high.

01:14:46 You know what that means, though, Brodie Crawford?

01:14:48 Gregor Hedwig is through to the final.

01:14:51 He has started qualifying.

01:14:53 And I can also tell you that the Germans and the Czechs have quotas.

01:15:01 No matter what happens, they have a quota here

01:15:03 because they are currently sitting in second and third,

01:15:06 and as we know, the top 12 will go through.

01:15:10 So they can't be dislodged from the top 12.

01:15:14 If you know what I'm saying at home--do you know what I'm saying at home?

01:15:17 [laughter]

01:15:19 Alexander Slivkoski.

01:15:20 Wow, here we are.

01:15:22 21-22-2, silver medalist at the World Championships,

01:15:25 the last two World Championships.

01:15:28 He finished second.

01:15:29 We didn't think he'd be going for another Olympics,

01:15:31 but he's decided to have one last crack.

01:15:33 Look at this, taking the early touch as Wesley did, and he's clawed it back, Ross.

01:15:37 He's back up on the split.

01:15:38 Unreal.

01:15:39 He is flying.

01:15:40 Never been to an Olympics, which is quite unbelievable, really,

01:15:43 for a paddler of this ability.

01:15:46 Look at that.

01:15:47 He's dancing with the boat, dancing with the water.

01:15:50 It would be a bit of a fairy tale, wouldn't it?

01:15:53 Would it not, Brodie, if he could get through to his first Olympic Games?

01:15:56 No question.

01:15:57 No one even comes close.

01:15:58 The most successful paddler never to go to a Games or win a World Champs, Ross.

01:16:03 He's won so many World Cup medals and World Championship medals.

01:16:06 It's crazy.

01:16:08 So is this his last hurrah?

01:16:10 As we see him on the course, he's putting in a pretty good run.

01:16:14 He's just slipped out a little bit at the moment, but--

01:16:17 It's going to be close.

01:16:20 It's going to be very close.

01:16:21 I think he's going to be-- he will be just over the 100, so--

01:16:24 Oh, he's got 9th.

01:16:26 No, no.

01:16:29 I don't know.

01:16:31 That could be it.

01:16:32 I think he looks like a man who knows that's it.

01:16:36 Wow.

01:16:38 Because this is qualifying.

01:16:39 This is Olympic qualifying for the Slovakia as well.

01:16:42 So, oh, here comes the next Slovakian.

01:16:44 The next Slovakian, Marko Murgorodski, who has the advantage over his two teammates,

01:16:51 courtesy of his result in Laseo.

01:16:54 And at the moment, his teammate, Matej Banusch, is sitting in fourth.

01:16:58 So Hedwig and Tasiades are both into the final.

01:17:04 And now we're waiting for Lukas Rohan, who's the next man on the bubble.

01:17:09 Good start for Murgorodski.

01:17:12 I mean, he had to bide his time, didn't he, for so long, Murgorodski,

01:17:15 while he was waiting for Slivkoski and Banusch and Mardykin to get out of the way.

01:17:20 He's done well there, Ross.

01:17:21 I thought he was going-- blowing past that wave move,

01:17:23 but fights his way back onto the wave.

01:17:26 But has he lost too much time?

01:17:28 That's the question.

01:17:29 It looks like he hasn't.

01:17:30 His split, look at that.

01:17:31 Still up.

01:17:32 So that's a very good recovery.

01:17:33 Sure was.

01:17:34 Fast top section for Murgorodski.

01:17:36 But he needs to get it all right now.

01:17:37 He needs to keep this run going.

01:17:41 And at the moment he's looking pretty good.

01:17:44 And nice and tidy through that little maneuver.

01:17:50 The most important thing is that he's clean.

01:17:51 No touches.

01:17:52 So that's important.

01:17:54 Yeah, we'll see how he navigates this escape move.

01:17:58 Very, very nice.

01:18:00 He's lost a bit of time, though, 2.7.

01:18:02 Yeah, yeah, he's down a bit now.

01:18:04 He's got to work hard on the bottom part of this course

01:18:07 to get back.

01:18:08 There's a bit of a log jam around the 100 second mark.

01:18:11 Yeah, he's got to make up a little bit of time, I think,

01:18:13 and he'll be--

01:18:14 Plus, around plus 2 is where he needs to be.

01:18:16 Yeah, I think he's lost too much time there, hasn't he?

01:18:18 Yeah.

01:18:19 No, he's not going to be on the mix.

01:18:21 Unfortunately for Murgorodski, I think his day is over.

01:18:24 Wow.

01:18:25 For the big man from Slovakia goes into 10th position.

01:18:29 So I don't think that's going to be good enough.

01:18:31 A lot of people are going to have to do a lot of things wrong

01:18:33 now for him to survive.

01:18:36 But it means that Lukas Roen, the Olympic silver medalist,

01:18:40 is into the final.

01:18:42 And Martijn Ben Ours takes a small win in the Olympic race.

01:18:46 Yep.

01:18:47 Now, speaking of Olympics, the Olympic champion, folks,

01:18:52 is on your screen, Benny Savsek.

01:18:56 Pound for pound, probably the most formidable paddler

01:18:59 of recent years and just a phenomenal athlete.

01:19:03 Again, another one that we-- he's an Olympic gold medalist,

01:19:06 and of course, he's a world champion from way back in 2017.

01:19:10 So it's long overdue for him to get back on top of the podium

01:19:13 in the world championships.

01:19:15 Yeah, absolutely.

01:19:16 He's arguably the best of this era,

01:19:19 and he's such a smooth paddler.

01:19:22 Everything-- no energy is wasted when this guy paddles.

01:19:25 It's incredible to see.

01:19:26 Watch every stroke propels the boat exactly where he wants it to go.

01:19:30 Became quite a hero in Slovenia after the Olympics

01:19:34 when he made a bit of history by winning that gold.

01:19:36 And for a small country, they punch above their weight

01:19:39 in so many sports like basketball and cycling,

01:19:41 and he was up there amongst them as an Olympic champion.

01:19:45 And he's putting down a pretty good run here.

01:19:47 They're reviewing a couple of gates.

01:19:49 Look at this, two seconds of hover offs.

01:19:51 Raw time is-- whoa, nice.

01:19:54 That was good.

01:19:55 Tell you what, though,

01:19:56 Hedwig was so good on that bottom split, wasn't he?

01:19:58 Really, really was.

01:19:59 But they are still reviewing one gate,

01:20:04 but this is going to be a very fast raw time.

01:20:06 The question is--

01:20:07 That's his last surf.

01:20:09 Nice.

01:20:10 Very good.

01:20:11 Wow.

01:20:12 This is our new race leader, I think, folks.

01:20:13 Well and truly, look at this time.

01:20:15 He's going to go around the 96, is he?

01:20:17 97.

01:20:18 It's going to be close.

01:20:19 Oh, yes.

01:20:20 That's it.

01:20:21 Yep.

01:20:22 Wow.

01:20:23 Incredible.

01:20:24 Just a nod, a little bit of a fist pump, nothing too much.

01:20:27 He's still got work to do.

01:20:29 But Benny Savsek with a gate touch, thank you very much.

01:20:33 So a raw time there, Brodie, of 96.

01:20:35 Oh, wow, Ross, I didn't see that.

01:20:37 96.

01:20:38 96 raw time.

01:20:40 Oh, it's heating up.

01:20:42 Fire out.

01:20:43 Now, we mentioned before about the race for Ireland

01:20:46 and the heartbreak for poor old Liam Jagu.

01:20:49 And so now all Robert Hendrick has to do,

01:20:51 I say all, is basically go down and not capsize.

01:20:57 Yeah, well, he needs that quota, Ross.

01:20:59 So it needs to be solid.

01:21:00 I'm sure he'll want to be in that final,

01:21:02 but he'll be thinking about that quota too.

01:21:04 And he had a ripper in the quolls.

01:21:06 He went down early and he led for so long.

01:21:09 And this is his home course.

01:21:10 So that's a huge advantage in this game.

01:21:13 So let's see how Robert Hendrick goes.

01:21:16 He won the quota for Ireland back for Tokyo.

01:21:21 So he's been there before.

01:21:22 He starred in this movie before, but he didn't get the gig.

01:21:27 So that would have been heartbreak for him.

01:21:29 So today, if what you're saying, Brodie, is correct,

01:21:32 and you've never, ever lied to me,

01:21:35 he could know by the time he puts his head on his pillow tonight,

01:21:39 he could know if he's going to Paris next year.

01:21:41 That's pretty wild.

01:21:42 Wouldn't it?

01:21:43 That's awesome.

01:21:44 That is pretty cool, yeah.

01:21:45 In fact, he may be the first athlete confirmed.

01:21:48 I'll give it a couple of weeks.

01:21:49 Yeah, he may very well be.

01:21:51 But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

01:21:52 He does need to get the quota first.

01:21:54 He's on a beautiful run, though, Ross.

01:21:55 He's well in touch for that top ten.

01:21:57 Let's have a look at his split.

01:21:59 Looking good.

01:22:00 It's going to be tight.

01:22:01 1.8 is qualified, actually.

01:22:03 So if he holds that, he'll go through.

01:22:07 He's just got a couple more gates to get through.

01:22:09 Ooh.

01:22:10 Get across there, my friend.

01:22:13 Ooh, I'm taking forever.

01:22:15 Come on, my man.

01:22:16 Come on, Robert, lift it.

01:22:17 You've got to lift, my friend.

01:22:19 You've got to bring this home.

01:22:22 Come on.

01:22:23 Come on, mate.

01:22:24 Let's go.

01:22:25 Robert Hendrick comes down and he crosses the line.

01:22:26 Ooh.

01:22:27 13.

01:22:30 13.

01:22:31 Okay.

01:22:32 That's going to be close, though.

01:22:33 Let's have a look.

01:22:34 Let's have a look at the top ten.

01:22:35 There's two Czechs there at the moment.

01:22:37 There's two Slovenians.

01:22:40 Sorry.

01:22:41 Let me just have a look here.

01:22:43 I'm just trying to do the quick maths here.

01:22:45 I think that's pretty safe, Ross.

01:22:48 It's usually -- it's usually around top 20.

01:22:52 How many have we got to go is the question.

01:22:56 Well, we've got five locked away.

01:22:59 It's going to be close, like I say.

01:23:01 It's going to be nail-biting.

01:23:03 It's going to be nail-biting for our Irish friends singing at home.

01:23:06 Don't go away.

01:23:07 Maybe get yourself -- what's the time?

01:23:09 Whiskey time yet?

01:23:11 Somewhere.

01:23:12 Look, it's nearly midday, so that's our whiskey time in some parts of the world.

01:23:17 Pour yourself a stiff one.

01:23:18 We're not condoning alcohol, of course, drinking alcohol, but I think you deserve one.

01:23:22 And sit back and let's do the maths because Jules Bernadette, the big Frenchman, is on the course.

01:23:28 He was phenomenal at the Under-23 World Championships this year, became world champion for the first time.

01:23:34 And we know how strong the French are.

01:23:36 But we've got a couple of paddlers to come.

01:23:40 There's one.

01:23:41 Yeah, he's making hard work of the last couple of touches.

01:23:44 Start off his run.

01:23:45 It's going to be hard from here.

01:23:47 He's got to be the lightning on the bottom.

01:23:49 So, Chalupka is waiting.

01:23:55 Who else have we got in this top ten?

01:23:56 Luka Bozic is waiting, so he could have two -- I think he might be right, you know, with Hendrik.

01:24:01 We'll have to do the maths.

01:24:02 We'll do it in just a moment for you folks to put you out of your misery at home.

01:24:05 But there are a couple of countries who do have two athletes already in the top ten.

01:24:10 So, interestingly, Ryan Wesley from Team GB is sitting ninth at the moment, which is going to be a nervous wait for him.

01:24:20 But let's have a look now.

01:24:21 This time, unfortunately, is not going to be in the mix for Jules Bernadette.

01:24:26 And there goes -- there's one for the fans.

01:24:28 There goes the paddle.

01:24:29 There's one for the fans.

01:24:30 Take that paddle home with you.

01:24:31 Yeah.

01:24:32 He knows it was a solid time.

01:24:34 He's been around second place without those touches.

01:24:36 Yep.

01:24:37 That's tough.

01:24:38 Two seconds in penalty.

01:24:40 So, Adam Burgess now.

01:24:42 The interesting thing is with Veklav Chalupka confirmed now for the final, Ryan Wesley is sitting ninth.

01:24:53 We have how many paddlers to go?

01:24:55 We have three paddlers -- four paddlers to go.

01:24:58 Wow.

01:24:59 We've got to have a Brit in this final, the home world champs.

01:25:03 Come on, Adam.

01:25:04 Fourth place in Tokyo.

01:25:07 Whoa.

01:25:08 Stay in control, my friend.

01:25:10 Stay in control.

01:25:11 Don't let that bucking bronco get away from you.

01:25:13 He reigns it in now.

01:25:14 Yeah.

01:25:15 He's back on time.

01:25:16 Lost some boat speed, though, so it would need to be good.

01:25:19 Yeah.

01:25:20 He's under 23, world champion from way back in 2015.

01:25:22 The crowd are trying to lift him.

01:25:25 Adam Burgess, he's trying to pick up a bit of that speed that he lost there at the top.

01:25:30 But, wow, it's going to be close.

01:25:32 He's in touch.

01:25:33 He knows his course so well.

01:25:35 He knows every inch of it.

01:25:37 So he can make back some time.

01:25:39 It's in here.

01:25:41 So at the moment, we're looking at sitting on the bubble is Luka Bozic from Slovenia.

01:25:48 He's waiting to see if he will get some finals action this afternoon.

01:25:51 He's waiting to see how Adam Burgess plays out the rest of his run.

01:25:55 Whoa.

01:25:56 That's not too bad.

01:25:57 It wasn't too bad.

01:25:58 He's pulling it back.

01:26:00 This is a nice --

01:26:01 This is a big finish.

01:26:02 He needs to hold it together.

01:26:04 Come on, Adam Burgess.

01:26:05 Come on, British fans.

01:26:06 Get behind your man.

01:26:07 You want to get him up over the line.

01:26:08 You want to get him into the final.

01:26:10 Adam Burgess now.

01:26:11 He's going to do a bit of a tricky move here, is he?

01:26:13 Yes, he's --

01:26:14 Nice.

01:26:15 Nice.

01:26:16 Now bring it home.

01:26:17 He's going to be okay.

01:26:18 I think he's going to be close, but I think he's going to be straight into the final, Adam Burgess.

01:26:21 Well done.

01:26:22 Good race.

01:26:23 Good race.

01:26:25 He's happy.

01:26:26 Thank you.

01:26:27 He's next.

01:26:29 Thank you, fans.

01:26:30 He says.

01:26:31 I'll be back.

01:26:32 I'm playing here later this afternoon.

01:26:34 Get your tickets now.

01:26:35 Come and see me race for gold.

01:26:38 He looks like a relieved man, doesn't he?

01:26:40 Yes.

01:26:41 He's got a bit out of sorts from at the top there, but he reined it back in beautifully.

01:26:43 Oh, Adam Burgess.

01:26:44 He moves into the final, and he also locks away that Olympic quota for Team GB,

01:26:50 which they already had, by the way, from Krakow.

01:26:53 So I'll tell you what that means.

01:26:56 It might mean that Spain now will be the country waiting to potentially pick up the quota from Krakow.

01:27:02 But I'll tell you more on that in just a moment, as Mithila Ghesdin from France,

01:27:07 two-time under-23 world champion, he's won two World Cup golds in 2022.

01:27:13 He's just such a phenomenal paddler, isn't he?

01:27:15 Yes.

01:27:16 A young man.

01:27:17 He's just got it, Ross.

01:27:19 Yes, he certainly does.

01:27:20 He's like a sort of a sub-circuit paddler, really efficient, doesn't waste the strokes.

01:27:25 So Luka Bozic is still waiting nervously to see if he will get a chance to paddle for gold.

01:27:32 We don't have a Frenchman in the final at the moment.

01:27:36 Jules Bernadette is sitting 12th.

01:27:38 So we're waiting to see if we get a Frenchman in the final this afternoon.

01:27:43 And after this, we have two more paddlers to go.

01:27:46 We have Raffaele Valdi from Italy, who's in really good form after Laseo,

01:27:50 and Mikel Trave, the flying Spaniard.

01:27:53 He's coming back a little bit here.

01:27:56 He's going to need to finish strong.

01:27:57 A couple of seconds.

01:27:58 Only a second.

01:27:59 He's well in touch.

01:28:00 He's in touch.

01:28:01 If he can finish it.

01:28:02 But we know how fast Seb Seckenhede would be at the bottom of the course.

01:28:07 So it's a bit of a nervous time.

01:28:10 I know that.

01:28:11 You rode him.

01:28:12 I'm feeling it's pretty exciting.

01:28:14 That's a slow last start, but I think he's well in touch.

01:28:17 He's going to be close.

01:28:19 I don't know.

01:28:20 He might be just outside.

01:28:21 He's going to be easy.

01:28:22 Let's see.

01:28:23 Coming down to the line now.

01:28:24 He's going to be eighth.

01:28:25 He's in.

01:28:26 Wow.

01:28:27 He's just in.

01:28:28 Look at that.

01:28:29 He knows the turn.

01:28:30 Look at the smile of a man who's snuck in by the skin of his teeth.

01:28:35 He is through in eighth position.

01:28:39 So we're looking at two and a half seconds to qualify from the leader.

01:28:42 That's tight racing, Ross.

01:28:44 Far out.

01:28:45 Yeah.

01:28:46 So Raffaele Valdi, here's the scenario for Italian fans at home.

01:28:53 If Raffaele Valdi gets into the final, he will kick out his teammate,

01:28:57 Paolo Ceccon, who is currently sitting in tenth position.

01:29:00 That's a tough position.

01:29:03 Wow.

01:29:04 That's brutal.

01:29:05 That is brutal.

01:29:06 Yeah.

01:29:07 He's got an early touch, Ross.

01:29:08 Oh, Raffaele.

01:29:10 You know, it was interesting talking to him after Laseo.

01:29:13 Brutally honest he was.

01:29:16 He talked about how he often questions whether he belongs in this field,

01:29:22 whether he should be paddling against people of this caliber,

01:29:25 which is -- for bikes like you and me, Brodie,

01:29:28 it's hard for us to get our heads around that because we know what he's like.

01:29:31 We know how fast he is.

01:29:32 We know what a competent paddler he is.

01:29:34 Yeah.

01:29:35 It was very interesting to hear.

01:29:37 Yeah, it was impressive for him to be so open about it all.

01:29:40 Yeah.

01:29:41 He's got some work to do here because -- ooh, he's --

01:29:44 2.4, that's in just.

01:29:46 He can't lose any more time, though, Ross.

01:29:48 He's right in the bubble.

01:29:50 Is he going to knock his teammate out of the top ten?

01:29:52 Oh, no, he's not.

01:29:54 No, he won't.

01:29:55 No, he won't.

01:29:56 Oh, unfortunately for Raffaele, that is a crucial mistake.

01:30:01 You know, critically, though, Ross, this has just spiked my memory.

01:30:06 Like the Italians missed out on the games.

01:30:09 They were one of those countries, mate.

01:30:11 They will have a quota from Palo, so that's something from this race

01:30:14 because that was brutal last year.

01:30:16 Yep.

01:30:17 Oh, look, unfortunately for Raffaele, that is not going to be his day today.

01:30:22 But it means Luka Bozic is into the final, the Slovenian,

01:30:25 so we're going to have two Slovenians in the final.

01:30:28 Bad luck there, Raffaele.

01:30:30 Yeah, unfortunately for Eveli and disappointment,

01:30:35 absolute disappointment for Eveli.

01:30:39 Wow.

01:30:40 I wonder how nervous Paolo Cachon is right now.

01:30:42 Yep.

01:30:43 He is the man sitting in tenth position at the moment.

01:30:45 He's waiting to see Mikel Trave.

01:30:48 Here comes a rocket.

01:30:49 Yeah, don't blink, guys, because you'll miss it.

01:30:51 This guy is like he's got a booster under his boat

01:30:55 that just slips to overdrive sometimes and just propels him over the water.

01:30:59 Yeah, seconds faster than everyone else raw in the qualifications.

01:31:03 Yeah, on a tough day of paddling, Brodie,

01:31:05 when the conditions were just atrocious.

01:31:07 Yeah.

01:31:08 Look at him go now, though, bouncing over the water.

01:31:11 A bit down on the split, which surprises me, but--

01:31:14 Wow, yeah, you would not have thought that watching,

01:31:16 but let's see how the next split looks.

01:31:19 So at the moment, we don't have a Spaniard in the top ten.

01:31:22 Oh, that was good, Ross.

01:31:23 Yeah.

01:31:24 That was real good.

01:31:26 He would be racing in the knowledge that even if he doesn't make it through,

01:31:30 the Spaniards can take the quota from Krakow.

01:31:35 But I'm sure he wants to earn it in his own right here today, right now,

01:31:39 and give himself a chance to become world champion a little bit later on.

01:31:42 Absolutely.

01:31:44 So clean at the moment, but needs to pick--

01:31:47 Oh, no, he's missed the gate.

01:31:50 He has missed the gate.

01:31:52 Mikel Trave has missed the gate.

01:31:55 So I don't know that he can pick up the pace now to get back in,

01:31:59 but it means that Paolo Ceccon from Italy will be in the final.

01:32:03 Wow, congratulations, Paolo.

01:32:04 An awesome result for him.

01:32:06 Yeah, an awesome result for Italy as well.

01:32:08 Yes.

01:32:09 But, oh, Mikel Trave, that was a big error for the man from Spain.

01:32:15 Huge time loss.

01:32:17 He's going for it, though.

01:32:18 He's finishing strong.

01:32:19 Yeah, but unfortunately too much time to make up.

01:32:23 So, yeah, well, Jesse needs to finish off here,

01:32:26 but that unfortunately he's got to touch on 23 as well, which will--

01:32:29 Wow.

01:32:30 Add salt to the wound.

01:32:32 This will mean Ryan Wesley as well, one out, Ross.

01:32:34 Heartbreak.

01:32:35 Heart stop.

01:32:36 He finishes 11th.

01:32:37 Home world champs.

01:32:38 Yep.

01:32:39 Got to feel for him.

01:32:40 Yep.

01:32:41 Well, there we go, folks.

01:32:42 The top ten has been decided, and I'll run through them for you.

01:32:49 Benjamin Savsek, Slovenian; Gregor Hedwig, Poland;

01:32:53 Sideris Tasiadis, Germany; Lukas Roen, Czech Republic;

01:32:58 Matej Benus, Slovakia; Adam Burgess, Great Britain;

01:33:02 Václav Čelúka, Czech Republic; Nikola Gestiń from France;

01:33:07 Luka Božič from Slovenia; and Paolo Cecion from Italy.

01:33:12 So how many countries do we have there in the top ten, Brodie?

01:33:15 Nine, I believe.

01:33:16 No, I think it might be eight.

01:33:17 Eight?

01:33:18 I think we've got--

01:33:19 Two Slovenians, right?

01:33:20 Two Slovenians.

01:33:21 Eight, yes, eight.

01:33:22 Two Slovenians, two Czechs.

01:33:26 So we have eight.

01:33:28 So that means-- let me look down the list here.

01:33:32 Robert Hendrik is in.

01:33:34 He's in the ninth, is he?

01:33:36 Yeah, he's in the ninth country, yeah?

01:33:37 Robert Hendrik in 16th position will be in.

01:33:42 Matej Maranec from Croatia will be in.

01:33:46 In 10th position.

01:33:48 So that's it then, folks.

01:33:52 Don't go off and publish that online and say Ross and Brodie told me because--

01:33:57 We're just a couple of--

01:33:58 We're just a couple of buff heads who are just trying to do some shoddy maths here.

01:34:03 But that's the way I look at it, and the way I also look at it is that Spain will take the quota from Krakow, I think.

01:34:15 Is that the way you read it?

01:34:19 I think so, yeah.

01:34:21 Yeah.

01:34:22 Yeah, anyway.

01:34:23 Yeah, USA and Cochlin, maybe.

01:34:25 Cochlin in the 12th quota, potentially.

01:34:30 So USA and-- oh, yeah.

01:34:32 11, 12, USA.

01:34:33 So USA, Casey Eichfeld, 11, and Thomas Cochlin from Switzerland, 12.

01:34:37 Bang on 20, Ross.

01:34:39 Always about top 20.

01:34:40 Top 20.

01:34:41 You did call it.

01:34:42 I'm going to crunch the numbers between now and the final, and then we'll bring it back to you.

01:34:47 Thank you, Brodie.

01:34:48 You're going to come back and join us for the--

01:34:49 Yeah, mate.

01:34:50 How good was that?

01:34:51 I can't wait.

01:34:52 You're going to do the final.

01:34:53 Thank you for joining us wherever you've been watching us.

01:34:54 We'll be back with the women's and the men's final very soon from Leigh Valley.

01:34:59 We hope you've enjoyed the coverage today.

01:35:00 My name is Ross Sully, Brodie Crawford here with me in the commentary box.

01:35:03 See you for gold medal action very, very soon.

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Canoe: Semis / 2023 ICF Canoe-Kayak Slalom World Championships & Olympic Qualifier Lee Valley UK

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