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

Planet Canoe

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 [Beeping]

00:00:13 [Radio chatter]

00:00:16 [Music]

00:00:41 Well, hello everybody. I hope you're in a comfortable place.

00:00:44 I hope you're relaxed. I hope you're ready.

00:00:46 We are about to bring you some crackerjack international canoe paddling action.

00:00:51 Hello, my name's Ross Sully. Welcome to the 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships

00:00:58 coming to you live from Lee Valley in Great Britain.

00:01:02 What a wonderful hour or so we've got coming your way with men's and women's K1 finals.

00:01:08 It's been an absolutely wonderful day of racing so far.

00:01:12 The conditions are perfect. Look at that, folks.

00:01:14 The crowd is out there in full force and they've enjoyed everything that's been laid on for them so far.

00:01:19 And they're hoping for more British medals yesterday.

00:01:22 They won a gold and a silver yesterday and that sent them into raptures.

00:01:26 Can they repeat it today? Can they have more medals coming their way for the host nation?

00:01:31 Olympic quota's also up for grabs. Most of those have been decided.

00:01:34 But now we look to crown some world champions.

00:01:38 Sitting next to me yesterday, a lady who brought the crowd to their feet.

00:01:42 My goodness, some of them are going to dive in after she secured that medal,

00:01:46 the silver medal in the women's C1, Kimberly Woods.

00:01:48 Great to have you in the commentary box. Welcome.

00:01:50 Yeah, thanks for having me. Bit sweet.

00:01:52 Obviously, we'd like to be out there racing in front of the home crowd,

00:01:55 but happy to have got that silver medal yesterday.

00:01:57 And we're up for some real good racing in the kayaks today.

00:02:00 Yes, your disappointment, though, is our enjoyment

00:02:03 because I'm excited to have you in the commentary box.

00:02:06 Let's look at the medal table so far. Look at you guys sitting up there on top.

00:02:10 Yeah, it's nice to see, actually. It's a beautiful course and it's a great course.

00:02:14 And, yeah, it's a real good feeling to know that we're dominating it.

00:02:17 And you've been involved in a couple of those, the team and, of course, your silver medal yesterday.

00:02:21 As you said, disappointing today. You missed out on the final.

00:02:25 But we'll talk about that maybe in a little while.

00:02:28 But let's just look at the young lady that will be out there trying to defend her world title.

00:02:32 Her name is Ricarda Funk, and she is currently not only the reigning world champion,

00:02:38 but she's also the Olympic champion.

00:02:40 She qualified second fastest this afternoon.

00:02:42 The only paddler in front of her is Jessica Fox,

00:02:46 who is absolutely hungry to get back on top of the World Championship podium.

00:02:51 She hasn't been there since 2018.

00:02:54 She's won everything else, but she just wants desperately to get back.

00:02:58 But Ricarda Funk will have a big say in that, as will many of the other athletes

00:03:02 who are lining up to paddle for gold this afternoon.

00:03:06 What a quality field it is coming your way, Kimberly.

00:03:10 Look at that. Ten of the best paddlers in the world all there, all going for gold.

00:03:14 Yeah, we've got such a big start line.

00:03:16 And, yeah, like there was quite a big spread, I thought, in the semifinals.

00:03:21 But I'm pretty sure these girls are really going to rack it up

00:03:23 and having the world number one and two there

00:03:25 and Olympic champion and European champion as well in Ricarda Funk

00:03:29 and a home Brit as well and two Slovaks.

00:03:32 So we've got nine nations in the top ten.

00:03:34 Yeah, Mallory Franklin, could she win two gold medals in a weekend?

00:03:37 What an achievement that would be.

00:03:39 Yeah, it would be. Obviously, we've got the two in the teams as well.

00:03:42 So she could be on for four out of four so far.

00:03:45 Obviously, I'd rather have been there myself.

00:03:48 But, yeah, really rooting for the home crowd to cheer her on.

00:03:52 So let's have a look at where all the trouble's been today, Kimberly.

00:03:56 And gate six has been challenging for a lot of paddlers,

00:03:59 a lot of 50-second penalties there, people trying to cut corners.

00:04:02 And as it's turning out, it's not really a gate you can cut corners on.

00:04:06 Gate 16 is also troublesome.

00:04:07 And gate 23, it's a really difficult cross gate, that one.

00:04:12 Yeah, it is. It's the last gate on the course.

00:04:14 You're pretty tired and you just want to get out of that upstream as fast as you can.

00:04:18 And, yeah, we're looking forward to this race.

00:04:21 And, yeah, like you said, gate six, a lot of penalties.

00:04:24 Yeah, if you're a little bit on the back foot on that gate before it,

00:04:27 it can make it really difficult.

00:04:29 But it's going to be really exciting.

00:04:31 So I don't want to spend too much time talking about it, Kimberly,

00:04:34 but what's the situation with British Canoeing, with the quotas?

00:04:38 Have they been locked away now?

00:04:39 Yeah, they have. Mallory got the C1 one yesterday.

00:04:43 And actually, Phoebe Spicer got the K1 today because of Mallory not being counted there.

00:04:49 And, yeah, I think it's up to British Canoeing, the panel there,

00:04:52 to choose who goes to the Olympic Games.

00:04:54 So we'll have to see what happens there for the extra kayak cross quota.

00:04:58 But we've got Martina Vegman here.

00:05:00 Really looking forward to get off to a good start.

00:05:02 Well, one thing I can say before we concentrate on Martina

00:05:05 is that you are one of the best kayak cross paddlers in the world.

00:05:08 So if you needed to pick up a quota there, Kimberly,

00:05:10 I reckon it's there for the taking for yourself.

00:05:13 But let's talk about that another time because we are underway in this year's 2023

00:05:17 Women's K1 Final by Martina Vegman, who looked absolutely shocked to have made the final.

00:05:23 She had a troublesome run, but she snuck in there in the final position,

00:05:27 and this would be a great result for her, making a final here.

00:05:30 We know that she can lay down some good runs.

00:05:33 Yeah, slalom is one of those things, putting a little bit too tight on there,

00:05:37 and hopefully she can just keep it calm, keep it cool, and make use of the water here.

00:05:42 So the time set by Jessica Fox in the semifinal was a 102.13.

00:05:49 I don't know that there's much more time to pick up out there.

00:05:52 It looked like Jess put everything on the line there to get that time.

00:05:55 So I think to be in the mix for a medal, Kimberly, correct me if I'm wrong,

00:05:59 you definitely need to be under the 105, wouldn't you?

00:06:02 Yeah, I think we saw Jess do a 106 yesterday in C1, then include in a 108.

00:06:09 So we definitely want to see the kayak times reaching close to the 100 mark.

00:06:16 So Martina Vegeman, the young lady from the Netherlands, hoping to get to another Olympics.

00:06:21 She was there in Tokyo in 2020.

00:06:24 She's got that quota locked away now for the Dutch, which is great news.

00:06:28 Now she just needs to finish that up now with a medal in a world championship.

00:06:33 She's never won one before, not in the K1 anyway,

00:06:36 so she's been up on a podium before with the kayak cross, but today could be her day.

00:06:41 Let's see. She's got that. Well, in fact, the touch has been removed, so that's good.

00:06:45 Yeah, I think they were reviewing gate six and I'll post a 50 actually.

00:06:48 She was really tight to it, but looks like the judges have looked at that video over and over again.

00:06:53 And she's off to a really good run here and pushing really hard.

00:06:57 It's a really good start for her. I think she will be really happy with that.

00:07:00 That's 105.03. I mean, everybody else has now got to go better than that.

00:07:04 And I can tell you that in the semifinal, the top five all went under 105.03.

00:07:13 So but that was the same final. There's more pressures and Kim, you've been there many times.

00:07:17 There's more pressure in a final. Yeah, there is. And it can go one or two ways.

00:07:21 It can be really exciting and really tight. The times being insane like they were yesterday.

00:07:26 They really improved. But sometimes it can also go the other way.

00:07:29 You can find that that will that could win on some days. So it's very, very much like a potluck and see how it goes.

00:07:36 You just got to keep pushing because you never know what will happen.

00:07:39 So for those who are watching for the very first time, we welcome you to this exciting sport.

00:07:44 We know you're going to fall in love with it because it is absolutely city of your pants type stuff.

00:07:49 But if you are just watching for the first time, you can see the paddlers.

00:07:52 They need to go through the gates. The green gates are called the downstream gates.

00:07:55 So they can go through those straight through the red gates of the upstream gates.

00:07:59 You've got to go past them, come back and come through them. If you touch the gate, it's a two second penalty.

00:08:03 If you miss the gate altogether, if you don't get your head and part of your boat through the gate,

00:08:08 you will get a 50 second penalty and that will kill off your chances of a medal.

00:08:14 You would think now a list of mental over. And I need to apologize because in the semifinal,

00:08:18 I didn't think she was going to make it. She had two gate touches and I thought that would rule her out.

00:08:23 Oh, and there's an early one there. But we saw in the semifinal, Kimberly, she was so fast.

00:08:28 Her raw time was, I think, the second fastest time on the course.

00:08:32 Yeah. Hint gate three is really not a good start for her and caught in that section there.

00:08:37 We call Piccadilly, but she's looking to try and keep the run on the boat.

00:08:41 She came away with a win from a couple of weeks ago.

00:08:45 So she's definitely one to watch. She's been in good form and she's definitely fast.

00:08:50 We saw that with the fourth two gate touches and still managing to get through to the final.

00:08:55 That is a pretty good signal that she's paddling well, but she's had a bit of trouble in the top half of this course.

00:09:00 So she really needs to nail the bottom section.

00:09:03 She's keeping really calm and composed and being quite safe on these upstreams.

00:09:07 You know, like sometimes the water is really unpredictable, but she's just snap that boat around there

00:09:11 and keeping the boat nice and light and find a little bit time.

00:09:16 For Elisca Mintelova, look how much speed she's got. How would they be feeling now, Kimberly, after the run this morning?

00:09:21 It is a very taxing course, isn't it?

00:09:24 And I could see on the look of the faces of the athletes when they finished. It's quite exhausting.

00:09:28 Yeah, you see a lot of athletes struggling here. It's a big physical force.

00:09:32 And the Brits are definitely got the strength to handle it.

00:09:36 And so a lot of other nations. But yeah, that sprint is probably the longest sprint that we've ever had to do in a race.

00:09:42 But yeah, Mintelova here is like just getting off to a pretty good run here and just get deep in there.

00:09:49 But she manages to keep the run on the boat.

00:09:51 Yes. Now this is going to be very close. 1.05 is the time set by Martina Vekman.

00:09:55 She's going to be inside that. We've got a new race leader, I think. Yes, we have. Wow.

00:10:00 Very quick there. 1.02.

00:10:02 1.02. That's nice. That's very nice.

00:10:06 She's paddling well, Elisca Mintelova. Is it going to be enough, though?

00:10:09 We've got some quality athletes to come. Yeah, I'm definitely not going to call it yet.

00:10:14 No, with the athletes we've got to come and yeah, she'll be a bit annoyed about that penalty.

00:10:17 But she's really composed and still such a young paddler in the in the sport.

00:10:22 Yeah. Slovakians have a proud history, though.

00:10:26 And look at that. That's early on. So already you've got that mindset, haven't you, Kim?

00:10:30 That you've got an early penalty and you've got to try and work out a way to pick up two seconds later on in the course.

00:10:35 Yeah, it's that as well. But also try not to do that at the same time.

00:10:39 It's maybe the couple strokes here and there just to pull a bit harder, use a little bit more energy.

00:10:44 But you've got to also keep it really calm and stick to your own process and your own plan to to do the best that you can the whole way down.

00:10:52 So it's tough racing today. This is a tough course.

00:10:56 And for some of these athletes, they did it twice yesterday and they've lined up.

00:11:01 Had to do it once already today and they've got another run to come. So they will really feel it tonight when they get to bed.

00:11:07 But what might lessen that pain is being able to look at a medal lying next to your bed.

00:11:11 Maybe they put it under their pillow. Who knows?

00:11:14 Sonia Stanouska. Wow. How good is it to see her in this final?

00:11:19 And of course, for the Slovakians, it is Olympic selection as well.

00:11:23 So she'll be wanting to do a little bit better than Aliska Mintelova if she wants to get ahead of her in that Olympic selection race.

00:11:30 But she has been in really good form since this year, since she stopped studying.

00:11:35 She finished her studies and she's now full time paddling.

00:11:39 And really, I think Kim Paddling, look at that time. Wow.

00:11:43 Yeah, really good start for Sonia here.

00:11:46 And she came up and she said it was really nice to see me paddling well and vice versa.

00:11:50 You know, it's really great to see her putting in some runs, coming off fresh on the under 23 world title in C1.

00:11:57 It's really awesome to see her making a mark in the kayak.

00:12:00 Yeah, she was really strong in Krakow at the under 23 world championships.

00:12:04 Just going a little bit deep there, but she's got a bit of time to play with.

00:12:08 Yeah, as long as I don't want to commentate this curse, but as long as she keeps it clean and stable,

00:12:14 I think she'll be on for a really good time here.

00:12:17 So Sonia Stanouska looking to challenge her teammate who's currently sitting.

00:12:22 Oh, dear. Oh, OK. The judges have given out a 50.

00:12:28 Oh, no, that's such a shame to see.

00:12:30 Given that a 50. And so what's happened there is that the pole,

00:12:34 unfortunately, the gate has passed on the wrong side of her noggin.

00:12:38 And so the judges have no choice but to give her a 50.

00:12:41 They will have a look at it again. But it was pretty clear, Kim.

00:12:45 Yeah, it's such a shame. And I just want to say, don't blame me.

00:12:48 No, I feel so bad for saying that. Just keep it calm and clean.

00:12:52 But that's such small margins in this sport.

00:12:55 And you just want to push that a little bit more.

00:12:58 And, yeah, unfortunately, a 50 for her.

00:13:01 And she'll be really good. But probably I think it's her first final.

00:13:05 And she'll be really happy to have been there. She seems a bit confused.

00:13:09 Yeah, maybe she thought, I mean, we'll have a look at the replay in just a moment just to see what side of her head the pole passed.

00:13:15 Of course, the other rule is you can't move the pole to get inside it yourself.

00:13:19 So, yeah, see, there you go. You can't do that.

00:13:22 It's a really tricky one because she's also put in a left stroke to try and get into it.

00:13:27 That paddle hits it. So it's hard to judge whether she's done it on purpose or not.

00:13:33 So this comes down to a judgment call.

00:13:37 I have to say, and I love Sona, I love her dearly.

00:13:40 But to me, it looked like it was a deliberate flaw. I don't know why she would do that.

00:13:46 It's just the spur of the moment. You just want to get your head through that gate and try and tactically pull the judges in a way sometimes.

00:13:55 But unfortunately, it really didn't pay off for her and she didn't get out far enough.

00:13:59 Yeah. Wow. She would be disappointed.

00:14:01 She was tracking well. Let's look at her raw time.

00:14:05 She would have been a 1.06, which probably would not have put her in the medal chance anyway, maybe.

00:14:12 I don't know. But that's disappointing for Sona.

00:14:15 But now we look at Stephanie Horn from Italy.

00:14:18 What a great career she's had.

00:14:21 And can she add a world title to what's been a glittering career for her?

00:14:27 A couple of Olympics and just always gives it her all and paddling well this year, including in kayak cross Kimberley.

00:14:33 You've had a couple of good stashes with her in the kayak cross this year.

00:14:36 Yeah, she's a feisty paddler. She's a very physical paddler.

00:14:41 And yeah, she's off to a really good start. I mean, look at that split time.

00:14:44 Almost four seconds up and she's really pushing the boat early on that spin there.

00:14:48 But she's going to try and use the way to stay off the pole and get in for the sweep here if she can.

00:14:54 She has done. And yeah, just trying to be a bit calmer now on this flat of it.

00:14:59 So she has won a silver and a bronze in the World Cups already this year.

00:15:04 And so time at the moment, her split time is good.

00:15:07 So she's tracking well and neither Kimberly or I want to say anything about how she needs to keep it clean now because we know what will happen.

00:15:14 Yeah, definitely not going to be saying that. But she needs to keep it clean.

00:15:16 Yes. Come on, Stephanie. That's good.

00:15:20 Yeah, keeps it nice and smooth and just really you can tell she's gritting her teeth, blowing her cheeks, making sure she uses this really nicely.

00:15:28 Not bad, not bad. Just keep the boat nice and light for this next bit.

00:15:32 Yeah, she's still up on the split. So she's still sitting in the top position.

00:15:36 Yeah, nice. She gets out of that nicely. Now, here is where the race could be won or lost.

00:15:40 We've seen paddlers just lose it here after doing such good runs.

00:15:44 Can she get across without any problems? Yes.

00:15:47 She's done that really well. The key is to just...

00:15:49 Oh.

00:15:50 Just as we say, she's done it well. So this is the issue. You just want to get out there.

00:15:54 Once you're in that up shape, you just want to get to the finish.

00:15:56 Oh, look at that. That's going to be the difference for her.

00:15:58 Oh.

00:15:59 Oh. That will really, really annoy her.

00:16:04 Yeah. I think sometimes you've just got to be so composed even to the finish.

00:16:08 I know.

00:16:09 And such a shame because she was on a really good run. And again, without that penalty, she would have been in the lead.

00:16:13 Oh, you can see that. See what it means to her. She's brushed her back against the pole.

00:16:19 And that's going to cost her a medal, you would think. Disappointing.

00:16:25 Everything had been going so well. She was tracking well.

00:16:28 She was on pace to go into the lead and then just brushing that pole with her back as she came out.

00:16:34 That was tight.

00:16:36 Yeah, it was.

00:16:37 But this last gate, this was the deal breaker for Stephanie Horn from Italy.

00:16:45 Yeah, as an athlete myself, you just really live the run with them. It's building and building.

00:16:50 And then, yeah, coming out of that last stop, you just want to get to the finish as quick as you can.

00:16:54 But it's just about trying to stay composed gate by gate.

00:16:58 Here it is. This is the one. Oh, look at that.

00:17:01 Just gritting her teeth and she knew straight away.

00:17:04 Yeah, she knew she had to put the afterburners on for that sprint.

00:17:08 All right. Now the crowd will get on their feet.

00:17:10 You will be able to hear them folks through the effects mic because Mallory Franklin going for her,

00:17:15 as Kimberly told us, going for her fourth gold medal of the weekend.

00:17:19 Did you say that? No, fourth medal.

00:17:21 Fourth medal, yes. Her third gold for the weekend, which would be a phenomenal performance.

00:17:29 In the K1, she is, of course, she didn't, you did the Olympics for Great Britain in Tokyo.

00:17:37 Oh, it's a big touch. Still up on the split.

00:17:41 And she'll know, you know, the water inside out where she can gain that little bit of time.

00:17:46 So, but she's going to have to be perfect from here on in for Mallory Franklin to finish on the podium.

00:17:51 Just got a little bit stuck there. Yeah, loses a bar ever so slightly going into that upstream.

00:17:57 But again, like mental over how to touch at the top of the course as well.

00:18:00 So this could be really tight. Yep.

00:18:03 She's outside the split now, so she really needs to give a bit of Franklin magic here to get back on top.

00:18:08 You can hear the cowbells ringing. You can hear the fans.

00:18:11 They're loving watching a great Britain in action.

00:18:15 And Mallory's just got a few miles above that to try and get that on the sweep.

00:18:20 Oh, Jesus. She's riding her luck, but she's got to do that.

00:18:25 She has to ride her luck here. Everything has to go right for her.

00:18:29 Deep, deep, not the best of S's, but she's still using some water well and just losing that bit of time there.

00:18:36 Don't know why the reviews there, but.

00:18:39 But her time, unfortunately, is slipping away now for Mallory Franklin.

00:18:44 She really needs to nail this move. She has to get it perfect.

00:18:48 Yeah, I know she's been really good with her kite racing over the season, wishing that she could be up there a bit more.

00:18:53 Even though she got a medal at Paragon. Yeah.

00:18:55 Yeah. Pushing really hard to the finish. Unfortunately, that's not going to be enough for that gold medal.

00:18:59 No, that's not it today for her.

00:19:03 Unfortunately for Mallory Franklin, she's in fourth.

00:19:07 She has a gold medal already, though, so she can.

00:19:10 She has two, in fact, so she can relax and enjoy that.

00:19:13 But as you said, Kim, she would love to have really nailed the K1.

00:19:16 Yeah, I think she'll be happy that she was the probably the only Brit in the final.

00:19:20 But probably would have liked a bit of company from myself and Phoebe.

00:19:25 And unfortunately, couldn't give it there to the Brits.

00:19:28 But yeah, really good racing. And it's just, again, the finals are just so brutal.

00:19:34 They really, really are. So we're at the halfway stage of the final.

00:19:38 It means that our leader at the moment, she won gold in Laseo.

00:19:42 She's sitting on top of the leaderboard with a touch.

00:19:45 In fact, only one athlete so far has been clean.

00:19:48 But it's Aliska Mintelova from Slovakia.

00:19:51 Is it going to be enough to win her the gold?

00:19:53 You would think with the quality of athlete to come, it's going to be tough.

00:19:57 But let's have a listen to Aliska Mintelova, see what she thinks.

00:20:00 OK, we're halfway through the finals. How do you feel? You're leading.

00:20:06 I feel good, but my run was not the best.

00:20:12 And I had one touch. It's too much for the final.

00:20:16 Yeah, you think it won't be enough for a medal?

00:20:18 I mean, you're still at the top. We have five girls to go.

00:20:21 But what do you think? I think no.

00:20:24 No. Well, I think it was a good, solid run. But best of luck.

00:20:29 Thank you.

00:20:30 Yeah, well, she's being brutally honest.

00:20:33 She doesn't think it's going to be fast enough.

00:20:35 Kimberly, what do you think?

00:20:37 It's interesting to be in that top position with five boats to go.

00:20:41 And those five boats being who they are, I would be feeling nervous.

00:20:45 But again, you just never know.

00:20:48 You would have to think. Let's look there.

00:20:50 We've got Zwolinski, Sutila, Jones, Funk and Fox.

00:20:54 The chances of all those five going through and going over 104.73 would be incredibly remote.

00:21:03 Yeah, I think definitely for the gold.

00:21:06 I think I wouldn't be thinking that's a gold medal run from Aliska.

00:21:11 However, a medal she could scrape out, her penalty will be really costly, I think.

00:21:16 So the wind has been taken out of the sails a little bit of the British crowd.

00:21:20 But they're just biding their time because they're waiting for Jo Clark and Johnny Dixon.

00:21:25 And Johnny Dixon.

00:21:26 Can you believe it, Kimberly?

00:21:27 Yeah, I saw some photos of him the moment that he was selected.

00:21:31 And yeah, it got me a little bit teary and probably got everyone else teary as well.

00:21:34 But here we have a very strong paddler.

00:21:37 Yes, I keep saying it. I'll say it again.

00:21:39 I've been waiting and waiting for the day that she nails a run because she is so fast.

00:21:44 But she just picks up these little touches here and there, which always seems to do her damage.

00:21:48 She's had a lot of fourths this year.

00:21:50 Yeah, I remember a commentary with yourself at Prague when she kept touching those upstreams.

00:21:55 But she's off to a really good start on that upstream there.

00:21:57 So Claudia Zwolinski, she was second at the European Championships this year in Krakow.

00:22:02 And is sitting OK. I think she's sitting top three or so in the overall standings this year on the World Cup.

00:22:10 And look at that. I told you she's fast.

00:22:12 I mean, just look at her face. She looks so composed.

00:22:15 Like you know exactly where she's going to be put in the boat.

00:22:17 And yeah, turning the head really nicely there.

00:22:20 Just watches the bow on that inside pole.

00:22:22 Look at that. They almost lost it there, but quickly recovered.

00:22:26 This is a good top half of the run for the young lady from Poland.

00:22:31 Claudia Zwolinski promises a lot, but we're waiting for her to deliver.

00:22:35 Could today be the day? Look at that. She's still up on that split.

00:22:38 Yeah, she's a really nice technical paddler.

00:22:41 And yeah, you look to get just slow the boat down the other.

00:22:45 Wow, that was really good. Really. Oh no.

00:22:47 Just slightly a bit too much and the tail touches the wall.

00:22:50 It's just such a shame there.

00:22:51 And she's still so calm and her boat is just so flat and always leading.

00:22:57 She's really staying in control here. Let's have a look.

00:23:00 She's going to be under the split. So it's.

00:23:04 Well, come on, Claudia, you've got to finish this run now. Do it for us.

00:23:08 You've got to get through without a touch and she's keeping under control.

00:23:11 You can see on her face there's no panic. There's no stress.

00:23:15 She's just trying to get the job done. Oh, it's OK.

00:23:20 She's got there. It's OK.

00:23:22 She just needs to keep her head up and get the boat moving and push through.

00:23:26 We're going to have a new race leader. It's going to be so, so close.

00:23:29 She's under or just over. Can you believe it?

00:23:33 The finish line is so far away.

00:23:35 You just want it to be there and you think that people are going to get it.

00:23:39 I have to say, Kimberly, yesterday when I was calling your race and I,

00:23:43 after you went through that last gate, I called you as the winner.

00:23:46 I said that you were going to go to the top of the leaderboard.

00:23:48 And I realized how far it is. It's such a long way.

00:23:51 Yeah, so many people came up to me saying that I thought I had it,

00:23:54 but you just you never know. And I just kept my head down.

00:23:57 I just kept pushing until you hear that beat.

00:24:00 So Claudia Zvolinska goes into second place.

00:24:03 Eliska Mintelova is riding her luck.

00:24:05 She is still sitting there in the number one position with a gate touch,

00:24:10 which is quite a remarkable effort.

00:24:13 But we have four athletes to go and they are quality.

00:24:18 They are experienced. In fact, between them,

00:24:21 if you look at Anna Satila, first Olympics 2012, Luca Jones, first Olympics 2018,

00:24:26 Riccardo Funk, well, she is the reigning gold medalist.

00:24:29 Jessica Fox, first Olympics 2012. There's a lot of experience there, Kimberly.

00:24:34 Yeah, a hell of a lot of experience, but also quite a big age gap as well,

00:24:38 I think, which is really unique.

00:24:40 Anna's not probably had the season she would have wanted so far this year,

00:24:43 but she's made both finals now, which is absolutely incredible for her.

00:24:48 And she's very much in the Zvolinska mold, isn't she?

00:24:50 She's so fast, so, so, so fast, but she does ride her luck sometimes

00:24:55 and that sometimes doesn't quite pay off.

00:24:57 But could today be the day that she gets through and really puts this run down

00:25:02 and blows us all off the course?

00:25:04 Really nice start there. Wow. Using the water so nicely.

00:25:07 As soon as you're on the back foot a little bit there, this move just becomes so hard

00:25:10 and she's used it really well, used the power, her edges really well,

00:25:14 and yeah, that shows in the time.

00:25:16 Yeah, just reminding you that the reason the time always looks so fast at the top

00:25:21 is that is when Mintelova had a gate touch, so that's the two second added to it.

00:25:27 So, and Mintelova was so fast at the bottom part of the course.

00:25:32 Yeah, amazing reset from her, but Anna here just losing that little bit of time

00:25:36 in the middle, but manages to hold some strength and hold that upstream there

00:25:41 and, you know, I'm stuck in a dive in here, but just looking to reset

00:25:45 and just calm down a little bit.

00:25:47 I wish we had a camera in the commentary box here

00:25:49 because Kimberly is riding every gate with the athlete.

00:25:52 She's twisting and turning in her seat there and, oh, Anna, that's okay.

00:25:57 I think there's no problems there and she's still fast.

00:26:00 She's still in touch with the time.

00:26:02 Now she's got to nail this good effort. Well done.

00:26:05 Really nice exit there, just manages to sneak out on the back of the wave.

00:26:08 It's going to be close.

00:26:10 Again, we're going to be very close here for Anna Satila.

00:26:13 Can she get on top of the podium?

00:26:16 She really needs to finish this strongly.

00:26:19 The Brazilian Anna Satila made her debut, Olympic debut, on this very course in 2012.

00:26:24 I think she's lost too much time there.

00:26:26 Yeah, it was a bit of time just not riding the wave that well

00:26:29 and kicking off a little bit too much, but she's looking to really keep pushing.

00:26:32 Yeah, just outside now, though, moves into fourth.

00:26:37 She's happy she's in the final.

00:26:40 Makes you realize how fast Mintilova was at the bottom of the course there, doesn't it?

00:26:44 Yeah, I mean, it's amazing to see someone get a penalty and make a mistake so early on

00:26:49 but then able to reset and just absolutely smash the bottom half of the course,

00:26:54 and she just built into that.

00:26:56 So we're down to the last three.

00:26:59 And Oliska Mintilova from Slovakia.

00:27:02 She won gold in Laseo at the last World Cup before we came here,

00:27:07 and she's come out here today.

00:27:09 She's picked up two penalties in the semifinal, still managed to sneak into the final.

00:27:15 She's come out in the final.

00:27:17 She's picked up an early penalty, but she is still sitting on top of the leaderboard.

00:27:21 Her time is a 1.04.73.

00:27:26 There are three ladies waiting to go, Luca Jones, Riccarda Fung, and Jessica Fox.

00:27:33 I'd be nervous sitting in her seat right now.

00:27:35 I would be too, and it would be somewhat of a fairy tale for Luca Jones

00:27:41 if she could take a World Championship gold medal here.

00:27:44 It's been an incredible story.

00:27:46 It's been an incredible journey for this New Zealand paddler.

00:27:50 She had COVID last year.

00:27:52 It really threw her off her game.

00:27:54 She spent months and months trying to get over it.

00:27:56 She's had COVID about three times, I think, Kimberly.

00:27:59 Yeah, it just shows how much strength she has just to get back to this.

00:28:03 Oh, wow, she's cutting the line so fine, but a lot of boat speed has happened.

00:28:07 We'll see her really up on the split here.

00:28:09 She's been spending a bit of time here, hasn't she, training this year?

00:28:12 Yeah, a lot of nations have come over, and it's been really cool to have everyone over,

00:28:15 training with us, and just feeling really at home on this course.

00:28:20 That's what you do for each World Championships.

00:28:22 She's just catching her tail there, but she's got time on her side.

00:28:25 She just needs to stay chill, get in for the sweet pain.

00:28:28 Wow, she's done that so nicely.

00:28:30 So, Luca Jones from New Zealand chasing her fifth Olympics,

00:28:34 having made a debut in 2008.

00:28:37 She's up on the split, but you need to stay fast.

00:28:40 Oh, my God.

00:28:42 She recovers that so well.

00:28:44 She had so much speed out of that upstream and goes a little bit too far,

00:28:47 but she's so adaptive, and, yeah, hopefully she can just stay super chilled.

00:28:54 She's putting it--yeah, I thought there was a touch there, gate 17.

00:28:57 Is that going to be crucial?

00:28:59 She's working so hard, and you can tell that she's gritting her teeth

00:29:03 and probably pushing the lines as much as she can,

00:29:06 using all of her energy just to get her to the bottom.

00:29:09 Gee, that two seconds--oh, that's close.

00:29:12 That's very close.

00:29:13 It looked like she kind of let go of her paddle.

00:29:15 Yeah, I think she did.

00:29:16 She might have lost her grip there.

00:29:17 Oh, Luca, hold it together.

00:29:20 No, no.

00:29:21 Oh.

00:29:22 The issue with that wave, it's like some people try so hard just to keep pushing

00:29:26 and pushing, and sometimes you've just got to use it

00:29:28 and just time one blade really well.

00:29:30 And, yeah, unfortunately that paddle wave, she got off to such a strong start

00:29:33 and really pushed it off the start and maybe lost a bit of energy there as well.

00:29:38 Frustrating for Luca Jones.

00:29:41 She was looking so good up the top half of the course,

00:29:44 but what that means is that Aliska Mintelova has a medal.

00:29:48 She has a medal, and she'll be absolutely beside herself.

00:29:52 Yeah, she'll be pretty shocked at that.

00:29:54 But, again, I say it every time, anything can happen, and, yeah.

00:29:58 I remember a couple of her World Cups, Kimberly, where you've been--

00:30:02 if you're not the first person off, you've been in the first couple,

00:30:05 and you sat there for the whole event and watched everybody go over your time.

00:30:09 It's not unheard of.

00:30:12 It's pretty nerve-wracking.

00:30:13 There's been a lot of people that have actually done that across the seasons.

00:30:18 Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be in a comfortable place if I'm first

00:30:22 with the current World Olympic and European champion to come down

00:30:27 and then the world number one.

00:30:28 Yeah, exactly.

00:30:30 Two of the big names in your sport are about to take to the water,

00:30:36 but they've got it all in front of them.

00:30:38 They've got the challenge in front of them, and here is Ricarda Funk.

00:30:41 She is the reigning Olympic champion.

00:30:43 She is the reigning world champion.

00:30:46 Not much doubt at all about her capacity to perform in big events.

00:30:51 Once upon a time, she was a nervous wreck, and it cost her probably

00:30:54 an Olympics in 2016, but she's since got on top of all of that,

00:30:58 and she's a much more confident paddler now.

00:31:00 Oh, just a little bit sticky there, but I can tell by her face she's so composed,

00:31:04 and I don't really understand what happened there.

00:31:07 She went so far up that hill there.

00:31:10 And given her a touch there, that was tight.

00:31:12 They'll examine it.

00:31:13 It might have been a water splash, but they'll have a good look at that

00:31:16 and just see.

00:31:17 Yeah, I think she just overcooked it a little bit, and, yeah,

00:31:20 it's in the hurry one there, but you never put any doubt in this paddler,

00:31:24 Ricarda, because she's so strong.

00:31:27 So they're not reviewing gate six at the moment,

00:31:29 but we'll have a look at the replay after the run.

00:31:33 But she's got a bit of time.

00:31:34 She's got to really now, considering Mintelova also had an early penalty,

00:31:39 you would back Funk in if she can now hold it together for the bottom part

00:31:43 of this course, but it has to be perfect, and that was good.

00:31:46 That was very good.

00:31:47 And for someone who knows this course so well,

00:31:49 I know what boat positions people need to be in to be able to nail those,

00:31:53 and I knew from about a metre out she was going to do that well.

00:31:56 And, oh, that was very nice.

00:31:58 This is good.

00:31:59 I've been very fortunate to train with her on this course,

00:32:02 and she's been really, like, trying to find the ins and outs

00:32:05 and making it her own.

00:32:06 Wow, this is going to be close, though, Kimberly.

00:32:08 This is going to be very close.

00:32:09 She's going to have to do this perfectly.

00:32:11 Let's see.

00:32:12 Oh, she lost the grip on her paddle.

00:32:15 Is that going to be costly?

00:32:19 I don't think it's going to be a gold medal today for Ricarda Funk.

00:32:23 It's going to be close, but I think she's going to be outside.

00:32:25 Oh, my goodness.

00:32:27 Oh, my goodness.

00:32:28 Oh, my goodness.

00:32:29 Wow.

00:32:31 I'm speechless.

00:32:34 Unbelievable.

00:32:36 Her hand came off the paddle.

00:32:38 I think she did really well not to do anything worse than that

00:32:42 in that wave with one hand on her paddle.

00:32:46 This means Claudia.

00:32:47 Two medalists there, and look who's sitting third, Martina Wegman.

00:32:51 Wow.

00:32:52 If I had said to you today, Kimberly,

00:32:54 that the top three medalists in the women's K1 would be

00:32:57 Eliska Minteloeva, Claudia Zwolinski, and Martina Wegman,

00:33:00 you would have said, "No."

00:33:02 I would have been like, "What on earth happened in that first wave?"

00:33:05 What on earth happened in that final?

00:33:08 Wow.

00:33:10 And it's all unfolding here.

00:33:11 It really is.

00:33:12 This is incredible.

00:33:13 So congratulations to Claudia Zwolinski winning a world championship medal.

00:33:17 She should be pretty happy with herself.

00:33:20 But there's one lady who can upset the apple cart here.

00:33:23 That's the last paddler on the course.

00:33:25 She hasn't won a world title, Kimberly, since 2018.

00:33:29 It's hard to believe that she hasn't been a K1 world champion

00:33:33 or a C1 world champion since 2018.

00:33:37 That's really hard to believe.

00:33:39 Isn't it?

00:33:40 Yeah.

00:33:41 Isn't it?

00:33:42 But she's won so many races.

00:33:43 She has, and she's managed to pick up a couple of cross world titles since then.

00:33:47 Oh, was that a touch?

00:33:49 Yeah, it was.

00:33:50 Jessica Fox.

00:33:52 A bit too narrow on that, but we know Jess.

00:33:54 She can hit gate one and still smash the race.

00:33:56 Well, she's going to have to be at her very best now,

00:33:58 and you can see there's a bit of anger in those eyes now.

00:34:00 She'll be annoyed.

00:34:02 She will.

00:34:03 That's an annoying touch early on, so she cannot make any more mistakes,

00:34:07 Jessica Fox.

00:34:08 She's been in this position before, and again, up on the split.

00:34:12 Even with that touch, she's up on the split.

00:34:15 But everything has to go right now for Jessica Fox from Australia.

00:34:20 Oh, and that wasn't the way she would have liked it to have been,

00:34:23 so she's not making it easy for herself.

00:34:26 She really isn't, yeah, just slightly low and late into that spin,

00:34:29 but crosses the wave and sweeps up really nicely

00:34:31 and is still up on the split.

00:34:33 We just know how strong she is.

00:34:35 We know how powerful she is, so.

00:34:38 Oh, Jessica Fox is on the water.

00:34:41 She's paddling for gold.

00:34:42 It's going to be tight.

00:34:44 She's got a gate touch early,

00:34:45 which is going to make it even more of a challenge for her.

00:34:48 She hasn't been on the top of the podium since 2018 in the K1,

00:34:53 but she has such a good record.

00:34:55 Oh, managed to hold that inside pole.

00:34:58 She's still going to be up on the split here.

00:35:01 Yes, she is.

00:35:02 She's still up on the split.

00:35:04 I'm feeling really nervous right now.

00:35:06 I really am now.

00:35:07 Can she nail this move?

00:35:08 What's she going to do?

00:35:09 She's going for an early turn.

00:35:11 Oh, it's good.

00:35:12 No, no, no.

00:35:13 Oh, she nearly lost it.

00:35:16 I'm really livid at this.

00:35:18 Oh, my God.

00:35:19 Okay, 104.73.

00:35:20 It's going to be close.

00:35:21 104.73.

00:35:22 She's going to do it.

00:35:23 She's going to be the world champion.

00:35:25 Jessica Fox, you are the world champion.

00:35:27 Wow.

00:35:28 Wow.

00:35:29 That goose bumps.

00:35:32 What composure.

00:35:34 What composure at the bottom there.

00:35:36 Unbelievable.

00:35:38 Look what that means to her.

00:35:41 You don't see emotion like that from Jess Fox very often.

00:35:47 Oh, my goodness.

00:35:50 Kimberly, that's unbelievable.

00:35:51 That is -- she will tell you.

00:35:54 She will tell you that by no stretch was the best run she's

00:35:57 ever done.

00:35:58 Nowhere near it.

00:35:59 I'm getting a bit teary.

00:36:01 Me too.

00:36:02 To hit gate one, to almost fall in and fall off the wave on that

00:36:07 last little bit.

00:36:08 How does she do it?

00:36:10 Unbelievable.

00:36:11 Unbelievable.

00:36:12 That's the only word I can use here.

00:36:14 That she hit, as Kimberly said, and you called it beautifully,

00:36:18 Kim, she hit that gate one and then you and I both nearly fell

00:36:22 out of our chair.

00:36:23 She looked like she was going to flip.

00:36:25 And for any other paddler, they probably would.

00:36:28 But she just dug deep.

00:36:30 You've got to remember, folks, she was at the bottom of a very

00:36:33 tough course.

00:36:35 How much energy could she have had left?

00:36:37 Have a look at this.

00:36:39 As she's gone around here, she has gone so close to flipping

00:36:43 this boat.

00:36:44 Look at this.

00:36:45 Look at that determination.

00:36:46 Yeah, this was just after it.

00:36:48 Yeah.

00:36:49 Wow.

00:36:50 Unbelievable.

00:36:51 Wow.

00:36:52 I think she's a champion.

00:36:54 I think that meant a lot to her.

00:36:56 I think having not been at the top of the podium for so long

00:37:01 and to get back up there, yeah, there's some tears there.

00:37:07 Yeah, I think she was probably really gutted not to come away

00:37:10 with it yesterday.

00:37:11 But she's come back so much stronger and she always does.

00:37:15 And as an athlete, you really live it with them.

00:37:18 And it was amazing to see her come back.

00:37:21 I can't believe it's been so long.

00:37:23 Yeah, okay, let's have a listen to Jess Fox, world champion.

00:37:25 You're world champion and you touched gate one.

00:37:27 What went through your head there?

00:37:29 A bad word went through my head on gate one, but I held it

00:37:32 together and, my goodness, it was a crazy race and I just can't

00:37:37 believe I've won today.

00:37:40 It was amazing.

00:37:41 I'm overwhelmed and so emotional.

00:37:43 I mean, it was a crazy final.

00:37:45 Everybody was so tight.

00:37:46 And then on that last cross on the hole, what did you say?

00:37:49 You were almost dropping there.

00:37:51 I almost fell off the stopper.

00:37:53 I was really pushing the lines and trying to be tight and give

00:37:56 it everything I had.

00:37:57 And, oh, I'm just absolutely thrilled.

00:37:59 The girls put down some really good times.

00:38:02 It was a tough race.

00:38:03 And, wow, amazing.

00:38:05 Well, you're amazing.

00:38:06 Congratulations.

00:38:07 Thank you.

00:38:08 And thank you so much to the crowd.

00:38:10 It was incredible energy.

00:38:11 Big love to you all.

00:38:12 [Applause]

00:38:16 >> I'm sure the Brits will be happy to celebrate with an

00:38:19 Australian.

00:38:20 It's all pipping in the Commonwealth, Kimberly.

00:38:22 That's what it's all about.

00:38:23 >> Yes, Jess is such an amazing paddler for the sport.

00:38:26 Amazing person.

00:38:27 And, yeah, we're all thrilled for her.

00:38:30 We'll be sticking around for sure.

00:38:32 >> Yeah.

00:38:33 So let's look at that, Kim.

00:38:35 Jessica Fox taking the gold.

00:38:37 Well done to Aliska Mintelova for holding on to that silver

00:38:41 medal.

00:38:42 And Claudia Zwolinski.

00:38:43 An era free run taking the bronze medal should be over the

00:38:47 moon.

00:38:48 And Martina Vegeman rounding out the top five.

00:38:50 That's an incredible top five.

00:38:52 >> Yeah, they'll be really pleased with that.

00:38:54 And, again, yeah, that time from Jess, 101, I knew it would get

00:38:57 close to the hundreds.

00:38:58 Hoping it was going to reach it.

00:39:00 And maybe on a really good run from her it would have.

00:39:03 And, yeah, those are the girls really stepping up.

00:39:06 That must be a PB there for Martina.

00:39:09 >> Yeah, nice to see her in the final again.

00:39:13 And Claudia there as well.

00:39:14 >> Claudia Zwolinski with the medal.

00:39:16 So that's your top three.

00:39:17 That's your medalists.

00:39:18 That's your world championship top ten.

00:39:21 With Sonia Stanovska rounding it out.

00:39:24 Just with that 50-second penalty.

00:39:26 Which in itself was quite breathtaking.

00:39:29 And Luca Jones there, yes, she finished ninth in the end.

00:39:32 It was going so well for Luca just until the bottom part of

00:39:35 the course and then falling apart a little bit for Luca.

00:39:38 But she did a good job of getting through the course.

00:39:41 And she did the kata front well.

00:39:44 Yeah, she lost her line early on, didn't she, Kim, and then

00:39:47 had to fight to try and get back onto it and just never quite

00:39:51 got back into the groove.

00:39:53 Here she is, our world champion, Jessica Fox, showing once again

00:39:57 the class.

00:39:59 And just making mistakes, making a lot of mistakes.

00:40:02 But doing enough to get through.

00:40:04 Kimberly, thank you so much for joining us and being part of the

00:40:07 team.

00:40:08 I'm looking forward to seeing you in the kayak cross tomorrow.

00:40:11 And I'm backing you into winning gold because I reckon you're

00:40:14 going to be pretty determined tomorrow.

00:40:16 Yes, for sure.

00:40:17 Take care.

00:40:18 And now we're getting ready for the men.

00:40:20 And, well, here's Vic Prindes.

00:40:22 He is the reigning world champion.

00:40:24 But unfortunately today just showing you what's at stake and

00:40:27 how hard it can be, he did not make it through to today's

00:40:31 final, which is hard to believe.

00:40:33 But that is the quality of world championship racing.

00:40:37 And, I mean, he is an outstanding paddler.

00:40:40 But he's not going to be there.

00:40:42 He's going to be left to his teammate to get through Yuri

00:40:47 Pristovic and try and win the gold for the Czech Republic.

00:40:50 It's a quality field.

00:40:52 It's a really interesting world championship final.

00:40:55 We've got some world champions there.

00:40:57 We've got some Olympic champions all coming your way in just a

00:41:00 moment.

00:41:01 Joining me in the commentary box from Sweden,

00:41:04 Frederik Wallen.

00:41:05 And, wow, Frederik, I don't know,

00:41:07 I've got to get my breath back after that women's final.

00:41:09 That was incredible.

00:41:10 Yeah, it was incredible to see Jessica's run,

00:41:12 how she picked up early touch but just kept going.

00:41:16 And, yeah, a gold medal.

00:41:18 It really has set the scene for what's going to be a fantastic

00:41:21 men's final.

00:41:22 There we have the field.

00:41:24 And there will be a Brit on the course early,

00:41:26 Johnny Dixon, managing to sneak through.

00:41:28 He snuck into the semifinal.

00:41:30 And then he snuck into the final.

00:41:32 So can he sneak onto the podium?

00:41:35 Yeah, we will see now.

00:41:36 We saw when the British girls paddling down the course,

00:41:40 the crowd was really cheering them on.

00:41:43 And, yeah, I think that energy can really give some positivity to

00:41:47 the British guys.

00:41:49 You just saw there where all the trouble has been today.

00:41:51 And as Fred and I said in the semifinals,

00:41:53 that gate six, a lot of athletes have been taking risks there.

00:41:57 And it's tricky because there have been a few 50-second penalties.

00:42:00 So it will be interesting to see how the athletes treat that gate

00:42:03 in this final.

00:42:04 Yeah, I'm sure they have looked at the video now and they have,

00:42:07 like, watched all the guys.

00:42:09 And they know now what to do, I think.

00:42:12 So there are British paddlers book-ending this final.

00:42:15 The first paddler on the water will be Johnny Dixon.

00:42:17 The last paddler on the water will be Joe Clark.

00:42:20 In between them, there are eight world-class athletes who are all

00:42:23 vying to knock the hometown favorites off the podium.

00:42:27 But Johnny Dixon is underway.

00:42:29 Yeah, and he's having a good start so far.

00:42:31 Now he's coming to the Trixie gate six and he's doing it really well,

00:42:36 keeping the speed.

00:42:37 And, yeah, on a really good start here, I think.

00:42:41 So Joe Clark's time in the semifinal was --

00:42:45 Around 90 seconds.

00:42:47 90.96.

00:42:48 Yeah.

00:42:49 So that's -- wow.

00:42:50 I still, even when I say that, I still can't quite believe that that's

00:42:53 what happened.

00:42:54 Very nice of Johnny there.

00:42:56 Like, the speed was good and the speed over to the up, great.

00:43:00 Getting a little bit, like, stuck there on the gate.

00:43:03 But, yeah, now he's on again, powering it down.

00:43:07 No penalties yet for Johnny Dixon.

00:43:09 This has been a clean run.

00:43:10 Have a listen to that crowd.

00:43:11 I hope you can hear that at home in the RFX, Mike.

00:43:13 But the crowd are on their feet.

00:43:15 Look at them in the background.

00:43:16 They are super excited.

00:43:18 They're running down, cheering him up there.

00:43:21 Now the S gate, a little bit.

00:43:25 That was pretty good.

00:43:26 It was okay.

00:43:27 Nothing major.

00:43:28 So we'll see.

00:43:31 Joe's run was obviously very good in the semifinal.

00:43:35 So I don't know if he planned that spin.

00:43:39 It looks like he was going for the direct, but just got caught on the block.

00:43:43 And now he's -- no.

00:43:47 Time slipping away a little bit here.

00:43:49 Joe Clark's time in the semi was a 90.96.

00:43:52 So I don't think unfortunately in a final -- and he shakes his head.

00:43:56 He knows that that's probably not going to be good enough.

00:43:58 But, Frederick, it is a final.

00:44:00 And we've seen before the first paddler on the course holding on

00:44:04 and managing as other paddlers crumble under the pressure.

00:44:08 Yeah.

00:44:09 And Johnny is still young.

00:44:11 He's first World Championship final.

00:44:13 And, yeah, it's good to see.

00:44:15 And, yeah, I think we will see more of him in the future.

00:44:20 So he goes into a 98.28.

00:44:26 And if I go back now and look at the semifinal,

00:44:30 there was nobody in the top 20 who went over that time.

00:44:34 So actually when we look now,

00:44:36 there's only like two guys with touches as well in the top 20.

00:44:39 So staying clean is very important, I think, for a top position here today.

00:44:45 Yep. I think you're right.

00:44:47 So Johnny Dixon will have a nervous weight.

00:44:50 But, unfortunately, with the quality of the paddler still to come,

00:44:54 it's going to be very difficult, you would think,

00:44:56 for him to hold on to a medal position.

00:44:58 And he knows it, but it's all experience.

00:45:00 And to race in front of your home crowd here and to have that excitement

00:45:04 and everybody cheering for you, it will be a long-time memory for him.

00:45:07 Yeah, it must be super cool to do that.

00:45:10 So now the Spaniard, Pau Etchedez, is on the water.

00:45:14 He had a good European Championships, finished eighth.

00:45:17 He's got those shark teeth.

00:45:19 Menacing-looking shark teeth at the front.

00:45:21 Oh, that was nice.

00:45:22 Yeah, very good.

00:45:24 A skate there, now he's gone into the Piccadilly, as we call it.

00:45:27 Yes.

00:45:28 Also doing it really nice.

00:45:30 Looks like he's in...

00:45:32 Oh, this will be something for the judges to watch.

00:45:36 The judges have got to put down their...

00:45:39 Oh, reviewing, yeah.

00:45:40 They'll have to review that.

00:45:41 They'll have to put down the chocolate eclairs

00:45:43 and have a close look at the tape, because he really rode his luck there.

00:45:48 Just getting stuck there as well, Frederik.

00:45:50 Yeah, he does.

00:45:51 Maybe sometimes when you are very close to a gate like the six,

00:45:56 you maybe think about that before you can get back to your rhythm again.

00:46:01 I think now he's forgotten about that.

00:46:05 Now he's scoring for it.

00:46:07 He has to put it out of his mind.

00:46:08 He needs to get back on track here, because this is a World Championship final.

00:46:13 Yeah, and looking quite good now, Paul.

00:46:17 Let's see for the second escape.

00:46:19 He's attacking it really well.

00:46:22 Taking the 50 off, so that's good news scoring for Paul Etchinez.

00:46:28 And as a result, he's back up in front of the split.

00:46:32 Now he goes for the spin move, and he's in and out there,

00:46:37 but getting a bit stuck there.

00:46:41 Exiting and keeping the speed is really tricky in that upstream.

00:46:45 You have to come up and then out, and he's sprinting down now to it.

00:46:50 He's going to go into the lead, but he knows that's not going to be a time good enough to win.

00:46:56 Certainly with gold, could he sneak into a minor medal?

00:46:59 Well, who knows, but you wouldn't think so given the times that we saw.

00:47:04 But a respectable run for Paul, like his first World Championship final maybe.

00:47:12 Yeah, quite possibly. Yes, I think so.

00:47:14 So it's good to see him in the final and getting experience and doing a really good run, I think.

00:47:19 And we see now on the video the replay here that I think he was inside that gate.

00:47:26 The judges were happy to give him the all-clear.

00:47:30 Very tight, maybe you want to be a little bit more safe in that gate for the future,

00:47:35 to make sure you don't get a 50 there.

00:47:40 But at least he can say, Frederik, that for a little while he led the World Championships.

00:47:46 We'll see how long he will stay there. It's a very tricky course.

00:47:50 There's a lot of mistakes we saw in the women's final as well.

00:47:54 Here we have Jessica with her boyfriend, Matthew, celebrating.

00:48:01 She was so emotional after winning that gold medal.

00:48:04 OK, so I mentioned in the semifinal, Matthew Polizek, he has some history here.

00:48:10 He won the silver medal in this same event in 2015.

00:48:13 It was a World Championships, it was an Olympic qualifier.

00:48:16 He took silver that year behind Yuri Priskovic. Could history repeat itself?

00:48:21 It could definitely be. He's a very strong guy and he is good with big races.

00:48:28 So I think he's really good now in 6th and 7th, so good start for him.

00:48:36 He also won a bronze medal back in 2013, so he's no stranger to finishing on the podium.

00:48:42 It's been a while, 2015 was the last time he was on a podium, but it was here in Lee Valley.

00:48:48 Very nice. This is looking really good now.

00:48:51 Getting the speed over and in and out from that upstream.

00:48:54 This one is really tricky. I've spoken to a lot of guys now.

00:48:58 This upstream was one of the trickiest they said in the course.

00:49:03 So he's going well, though. He's managing to stay in control.

00:49:09 He's under the split at the moment, so he needs to just hold it together now for the big pole.

00:49:15 To stay away from the poles.

00:49:17 A clean run is very important and doing the S here, very nice.

00:49:22 Keeping the speed up under split, a half second.

00:49:27 Very straight down there is also important.

00:49:29 Let's see if he goes for the direct move. Yes, he does.

00:49:32 And that looks really good.

00:49:34 Yes, finally we see Padlet. Yes, and really good into the upstream, very important.

00:49:40 And now we will see a really good time, I think.

00:49:43 It's going to be around the 94 seconds, I think, for Matius Polizak.

00:49:47 It will take him into the lead, 95.

00:49:49 That's the time now to beat, I think.

00:49:53 95 definitely is a roundabout medal.

00:49:57 I think that could have been fourth place in the semifinal.

00:50:00 So, yes, we'll see if they will go...

00:50:04 Yes, it would have taken him into fifth. Yes, fifth place.

00:50:08 Fifth place in the semis. Yes, we'll see now.

00:50:12 But, yes, very good run.

00:50:14 It's nice to have a time like that and then you'll be able to go and stand in the kiss and cry

00:50:18 and watch everybody else try and go under that time.

00:50:20 Yes. It can be challenging.

00:50:22 Yes, he kept it smooth, he kept it clean. That's the most important.

00:50:26 And now he has a chance to get the medal.

00:50:30 Matius Polizak from Poland.

00:50:33 A new race leader, a clean run.

00:50:35 All three athletes so far have been clean.

00:50:38 It's been a big effort because it's a tough course, but they are managing to get it right.

00:50:44 Yes, we saw Klaudia get the medal from Poland as well.

00:50:48 So we will see if the Polish are in good shape today.

00:50:54 And we have next on the course Mr. Peter Kauza.

00:51:00 What a story that would be, Frederik, if he was able to become a world champion again.

00:51:04 He's been there twice before, but the last time was a little while back.

00:51:09 But he would love, at the age of 40, he's turned 40 just recently,

00:51:13 he would love to be able to get back up on top of the podium.

00:51:16 2011 was the last time he was a world champion.

00:51:19 Yes, but he is one of the best out there and he's running the boat better than most.

00:51:26 It's so nice to see him paddle.

00:51:29 He's just with the water all the time and there he was a bit close and tight, ducking under.

00:51:34 I think it's okay.

00:51:36 Very Peter Kauza-like, isn't it?

00:51:38 I think when Peter Kauza gets underwater, the judges get nervous.

00:51:41 Because they know they're going to have work to do.

00:51:44 But that's the way he races. He just really cuts the corners, cuts the edges.

00:51:48 And when he comes off, it's beautiful to watch.

00:51:50 So much speed.

00:51:52 This is what you see when Peter is paddling down the course.

00:51:56 The speed of the boat is always super high.

00:51:59 Getting the speed out of the upstream there is very nice to see.

00:52:03 We will see now.

00:52:06 Reviewing both of those gates, 5 and 6, he did cut them close.

00:52:09 But from where Fred and I were sitting, we gave it the thumbs up.

00:52:12 Yes, we did.

00:52:14 We're not judges and we're not paid like judges. We're paid like commentators.

00:52:18 Yes.

00:52:20 Wow, that's very good.

00:52:22 This is very good from the veteran, Peter Kauza.

00:52:25 Don't you worry about the age. Forget that. Age is but a number.

00:52:28 Oh, is that a 50 or a...

00:52:32 We will see.

00:52:34 They've given it a 50. No, they've changed it to 2 seconds now.

00:52:37 I thought that was a bit rough.

00:52:39 Oh, no.

00:52:41 He's going to have to have another crack at it.

00:52:43 Peter Kauza. I just talked it up.

00:52:46 The commentators curse Fredrik.

00:52:48 Yes. It looked really good, but yes.

00:52:52 He's going to be disappointed.

00:52:54 Yes, I don't really know what happened there, to be honest.

00:52:57 If we will see a replay, maybe we can explain more.

00:53:00 But I guess he has touched an edge, which is very surprising to see Peter do.

00:53:05 He's so experienced and he's really good at putting the boat exactly where he wants to.

00:53:11 In those gates, it just didn't work out.

00:53:14 We've not seen anyone do that today.

00:53:17 No. Let's have a look here.

00:53:19 Yes, that's okay. Yes, I think so too.

00:53:21 They're having a look at it. There it is in ground control.

00:53:25 All clear, he says. Thumbs up. Off you go.

00:53:28 Erik Loekun, Kurshiyar Zarovsky, Kika Bupat.

00:53:32 Look at them. There, there.

00:53:34 That is in brain's trust.

00:53:37 Oh, that's very close.

00:53:39 He's given him something to think about, though.

00:53:41 And then he comes down to gate 6, just as if that's not enough.

00:53:44 And does it again.

00:53:45 But yes, I think that's okay. That should be okay.

00:53:48 Oh, penalty confirmed. There's a 2.

00:53:51 The touch. The touch, maybe.

00:53:53 We will see. We'll keep you updated.

00:53:56 But he got into trouble at the bottom anyway, so it's not going to make any difference at the top of the leaderboard for Peter Kauser.

00:54:04 Disappointing, because he was on track, wasn't he? His time was very good.

00:54:07 He was very fast. He was up on the split with more than a second, I think.

00:54:11 So, yes, anything can happen.

00:54:14 Now, we've seen Jessica Fox win gold for Australia.

00:54:17 Can Tim Anderson break through and win a world championship medal for Australia in the K1?

00:54:23 It's been a while.

00:54:25 It's been a long time between drinks, but Tim Anderson, he is such an improved paddler.

00:54:30 Super dry and keeping the boat speed high and looking really sharp out there, I think.

00:54:37 Up on the split, 1.2.

00:54:39 Nice and fast at the top.

00:54:41 He needs to keep going now, Tim Anderson.

00:54:44 I'm sure he would be buoyed by the result of Jessica Fox.

00:54:47 Getting a little bit stuck, but very tight up in there.

00:54:53 Very good.

00:54:55 Getting the speed over to the tricky up 12 gate.

00:54:58 He's close. The time is close.

00:55:00 Nice.

00:55:01 What can he do here? Can he pick up half a second somewhere along this part of the course?

00:55:06 I'm sure he can. There's plenty of places where you can pick up time.

00:55:11 And I think the next S gate is one of those places where you can do that really fast and gain some time.

00:55:19 Here we go. Let's see what he does here.

00:55:21 Oh, that is the tightest I've seen. That was super fast.

00:55:25 Was it a touch? Did he touch it or was he OK?

00:55:27 I think that was OK.

00:55:29 I think that's OK too. Very close. Going direct now.

00:55:34 You could hear the crowd when he pulled off that S through the whole crowd.

00:55:38 That's so forward. Oh my God.

00:55:41 Tim Anderson, he's going to move into the lead.

00:55:43 The Australian, he's going to take the lead.

00:55:46 What a run for this young man. Unbelievable.

00:55:49 That was super good.

00:55:52 He cannot believe it.

00:55:54 No, that was so good to see.

00:55:57 Oh, what a run. Let's have a look. I've got to have a look at that S.

00:56:01 That S, that S. We talked about gaining some time in the S and he really did.

00:56:07 I think that S was the fastest I've seen.

00:56:10 He has an asterisk next to his name.

00:56:12 They will go back and look at a couple of gates that he really did cut it fine.

00:56:16 Yeah, maybe the S gate they will watch if he had his whole head.

00:56:20 But yeah, they've taken the S-bricks off.

00:56:22 Yep, they've given him the all clear, folks.

00:56:24 If you're watching, it's late at night in Australia.

00:56:26 You've stayed up late to watch your man in action.

00:56:29 And I think it was worthwhile because now he is the man to beat.

00:56:34 Let's have a look. I want to see this S move again.

00:56:37 Yeah, I hope this shows.

00:56:38 Because it was the move of the day.

00:56:41 Look at that. The whole crowd.

00:56:43 Yeah.

00:56:44 And look, I think he's smiling.

00:56:46 The whole crowd let out a gasp.

00:56:49 Yeah, he's very close to the gate, but you have to go for it if you want to win.

00:56:55 And Timothy Anderson really put down a good run now.

00:56:58 Have to wait and see what the other will do.

00:57:01 Wow. So at the halfway stage, there he is, Tim Anderson from Australia, sitting in the lead.

00:57:08 He is our clubhouse leader with a 94.5.

00:57:12 Now, just reminding you, Joe Clark this morning did a 90.96.

00:57:18 So let's see, 94.5 in the semifinal would have put him into fourth position.

00:57:25 So there are three guys who are still to come who went faster than that this morning.

00:57:30 Can they do it under the pressure of a world championship final?

00:57:34 That's taken the crowd's breath away.

00:57:37 They cannot believe what they've just seen.

00:57:39 And now it really does throw down a challenge for the rest.

00:57:44 I can't wait to hear what Tim Anderson's got to say.

00:57:46 He's a true blue Australian. He will love this moment.

00:57:49 Let's have a listen to our race leader, Tim Anderson from Australia.

00:57:53 This is your first final at a world championship, and you've had an amazing run.

00:57:57 How are you feeling?

00:57:58 I feel great. I'm over the moon.

00:58:01 It's a bit of a blur right now. I can't really put it into words.

00:58:05 But I'm super proud of how I've paddled this weekend so far,

00:58:10 and really grateful for all the support and people behind me.

00:58:14 I could definitely hear you guys in the crowd as well. Thank you.

00:58:17 Amazing.

00:58:19 Yeah, we mentioned it, didn't we, Fred?

00:58:26 The crowd, they really did get behind him.

00:58:28 I mean, this is a very knowledgeable crowd here.

00:58:31 They know a good run when they see it.

00:58:32 They know a good move when they see it.

00:58:34 And they saw that move on the S, and they just loved it.

00:58:37 Yeah, and I really got a smile on my face when I heard Timothy speaking about this run.

00:58:42 Like, very well done.

00:58:44 So here we have the man from Morocco.

00:58:46 How good is it to have a man representing the African continent in a world championship final?

00:58:51 Whoa!

00:58:52 That's very good.

00:58:53 Could he pick up a medal? He's been paddling really well.

00:58:56 He's super confident. He's been training down in Australia at the start of the year.

00:59:00 Very few people work as hard as Machi Sode.

00:59:03 And he would love to win a world championship medal.

00:59:06 And his start is fast.

00:59:08 Yeah, his start is really good.

00:59:10 And we will see. His style is really nice and very composed now.

00:59:17 Getting the speed over to a little bit--

00:59:20 He's keeping the speed, but I would like him to go a little bit closer to the gate there.

00:59:26 He's picked up some pace though.

00:59:28 He's now a full second up on the time of Tim Anderson.

00:59:31 So this is a really nice run.

00:59:34 But we know that Tim Anderson really nailed a couple of the moves down to the bottom of the course.

00:59:38 So he'll need a second to play with.

00:59:41 Oh, yep, that's fine. Machi Sode.

00:59:44 He's really on good pace now, I think.

00:59:47 He's on the line all the time and doing this as--

00:59:51 Not as fast as Timothy, but still good, I think.

00:59:54 It's going to be close. He's under the time set by Tim Anderson.

00:59:58 Could we have an African sitting at the top of the leaderboard?

01:00:01 He's got to finish this. Let's see his move here.

01:00:04 That's very good, I think. The spin was good and the surf over was really good.

01:00:08 And that up-trim is exceptionally good.

01:00:11 Yes, this is going to be close. I think we're going to have a new race leader.

01:00:15 Yeah, we're going to have--

01:00:17 Wow!

01:00:19 Wow, that's good.

01:00:21 What is going on?

01:00:24 I don't know. That was so good.

01:00:26 Wow, what a run.

01:00:28 He points to the Moroccan flag on his sleeve.

01:00:30 We have a Moroccan, folks, sitting on top of the leaderboard

01:00:34 at an ICF Canoe Slalom World Championship.

01:00:38 93.91.

01:00:42 That was such a good run. He was so smooth all the way down the course.

01:00:46 He kept believing that he could do it all the way.

01:00:50 He's now in the first position with four more boats to go.

01:00:54 What a weekend he's had. His qualification run was very good.

01:00:58 His semifinal run was exceptional.

01:01:01 And now he's pulled out this in the final.

01:01:03 Yeah, that's very impressive.

01:01:09 He got a ticket to Paris now, and he's showing that he can paddle really well in the final.

01:01:15 It will be very interesting to see what he can do in the future now.

01:01:21 He's got a nervous weight now. As you said, Frederik, he's got four paddlers to come.

01:01:25 And there's some quality still to come.

01:01:28 Definitely.

01:01:29 The thing is, the last man on the water today will be Joe Clark.

01:01:32 He did a 90.96 in the semifinal.

01:01:36 Can you imagine if he went sub-90?

01:01:40 I think he can do it. Definitely. We'll see if he manages.

01:01:46 It will blow the roof off this stadium if it had one.

01:01:51 Martin Dugud, first of all, he is the man in action.

01:01:54 He had a great European Championships.

01:01:58 Very good on the start here.

01:02:04 That's nice.

01:02:06 Representing Switzerland, he was second in the European Championships, which is a great result for Switzerland.

01:02:14 Martin has been doing some really good results lately.

01:02:20 Paddling really nice.

01:02:24 Very good to see him in the final here and see what he can do.

01:02:28 He is up on the time by a long way, by a full second he has up his sleeve.

01:02:34 Martin Dugud from Switzerland.

01:02:37 Will we see a new leader again?

01:02:40 We have to wait and see. There's still very much to do in this course.

01:02:47 He's doing everything right so far.

01:02:50 We've had a lot of leadership changes and that was nice too.

01:02:54 He didn't lose any time at all through that move and he's still up on the split.

01:02:59 Just like Peter did.

01:03:02 He managed to stay clean and I don't think he lost too much.

01:03:06 Surely the lead has now gone away.

01:03:09 That is very, very good.

01:03:12 He's back in track.

01:03:14 He's got time on the exit though.

01:03:17 It's going to be close. I think he's going to be just outside.

01:03:20 Just under.

01:03:22 No way.

01:03:25 What happened?

01:03:27 No way.

01:03:29 This is unbelievable.

01:03:32 0.02, folks, you can't blink your eye in that time.

01:03:36 You cannot blink your eye in 0.02 of a second.

01:03:41 That has managed to be the difference between Mathieu Sody and Martin Dugud.

01:03:47 Can you believe it?

01:03:49 Do you go back now and think where could I have picked up 0.02 of a second on my run?

01:03:54 He had the unplanned spin just above the big drop in the end.

01:04:00 But I think his downgating the eddy at the drop there was the best I've seen.

01:04:06 And the surf over and the last upstream.

01:04:09 So he really picked up.

01:04:11 He lost time, but he picked it up directly in the last move,

01:04:14 which shows that even if you do some small mistake,

01:04:18 you can still save it in the last couple of gates in the course.

01:04:25 Wow. Wow.

01:04:26 I tell you what, with every paddler we're getting on the course now,

01:04:29 the excitement level has been ratcheted up tenfold.

01:04:34 Look at that. He can't believe it.

01:04:36 I cannot believe he got that close.

01:04:40 Righto. Giovanno DeGeneres.

01:04:43 He's never been a world champion.

01:04:46 He would love to do it today.

01:04:47 He would love to nail it.

01:04:48 He's not missed a World Cup final this year.

01:04:51 He's been in super form, super consistent.

01:04:55 We know how fast he is. Let's see what he does.

01:04:57 Is he going to take some risks?

01:04:58 Is he going to throw it all out there today?

01:05:00 He has to, really.

01:05:02 Yeah, he has to.

01:05:03 And, yeah, the times are really fast now.

01:05:05 So if you want to be on the podium,

01:05:07 you really have to put down your absolute best, I think.

01:05:10 And Giovanni definitely can challenge this time for a top position.

01:05:17 So Giovanni DeGeneres.

01:05:20 Very nice upstream, getting the speed.

01:05:23 He splits down at the moment, but we know he can pick up some pace.

01:05:26 He's down by almost a second and a half, well, more than a second and a half.

01:05:30 Which doesn't sound like much, but on the water on this course,

01:05:33 it is tough to find a second and a half.

01:05:35 You can do it.

01:05:36 You can do it, but we know that, yeah, you have to do it in the last couple of gates,

01:05:43 I think that's where you have the most chance of being very fast and make up the time.

01:05:49 A little bit slow there, but, yeah, managed much better than in his semifinal.

01:05:54 He's closed the gap. He's closed the gap.

01:05:57 So, ooh, that was tight. That was okay, though. I think he's okay.

01:06:00 Righto, he's got to do this.

01:06:02 He's got to nail this.

01:06:04 Oh, it's taken him a long time to get out of there.

01:06:08 Now he's got to be very tight now.

01:06:10 He's got to sprint. He's got to go under 94 seconds.

01:06:13 I think he's going to do it. I think he's going to be the new leader if he knows.

01:06:17 Oh, my goodness, it's tight. It's tight there.

01:06:21 And I can't believe it.

01:06:24 Fourth, he says? Seriously?

01:06:28 Yeah, you're fourth, mate.

01:06:30 Sorry, Giovanni. It was a good run, but that's your Sodie has a medal from Morocco.

01:06:36 Yeah, that's fantastic. I'm so happy for him.

01:06:40 Such a great result.

01:06:42 What color will it be, though?

01:06:45 Giovanni didn't do a lot wrong, did he?

01:06:47 No, he didn't. He's just like less than a second off the pace,

01:06:51 and I think he lost most in the last couple of gates.

01:06:56 The surf over, yeah, that was it, unfortunately for him.

01:07:02 But congrats, Matheus Sodie, you have a medal.

01:07:06 All right, here we go.

01:07:08 Yuri Priskovic, I said in the semifinal, I'll say it again.

01:07:11 In the year before the 2016 Olympic Games, he became world champion.

01:07:16 In the year before the Tokyo Olympic Games, he became world champion.

01:07:20 Will he become world champion in the year before the Paris Olympic Games?

01:07:25 His history about to repeat itself.

01:07:27 He is the defending Olympic champion.

01:07:30 He's a bronze medalist in Rio as well.

01:07:33 He's the European champion from this year.

01:07:35 He's a two-time world champion. I mean, he's done it all.

01:07:38 Yeah, he's done it all, but today he's going to be needing to be at his very best.

01:07:43 Yeah.

01:07:45 Yuri Priskovic is on course, folks, and looking for a medal.

01:07:49 Yeah, and he's very good under pressure as well.

01:07:52 He's paddling very good under pressure, and yeah, looks like a very good start to me.

01:08:01 Straight through the middle of gate 6, taking no risks at all there.

01:08:05 Yeah.

01:08:06 Down on the split at the moment, but don't worry about that.

01:08:09 He can pick that up in the blink of an eye.

01:08:11 Yeah.

01:08:12 Oh, no.

01:08:14 He managed to save that really well, actually.

01:08:16 I thought he would be stuck in the eddy, but somehow he managed to get loose of the eddy

01:08:20 and had very good travel over the wave and into that.

01:08:24 So he's going to be well down now.

01:08:26 He's a minute and 40 seconds down.

01:08:29 Not a minute, sorry.

01:08:31 Not a minute, but a second, yeah.

01:08:33 If he was a minute down, he would be pack up and go home.

01:08:35 Yeah.

01:08:36 But he has to really do something special here to get in contention.

01:08:41 I don't know that this is the run that we would expect from Yuri Priskovic.

01:08:45 No, I think he's a bit off pace, actually.

01:08:48 But that was super fast.

01:08:50 There we go.

01:08:51 That's where you make up your time.

01:08:52 Yeah.

01:08:53 Look at that.

01:08:54 That's where you make up your time.

01:08:55 Yeah, that was so nice.

01:08:57 And now we will see what he's going to do here.

01:09:00 And he's really-- oh, that's so good.

01:09:03 See, in and out of-- oh.

01:09:05 Yes, look at this.

01:09:06 That's why you're Olympic champion.

01:09:07 That's why you're a two-time world champion.

01:09:09 Yuri Priskovic is coming down now.

01:09:12 He's going to move into the lead.

01:09:14 That, folks, is a championship run.

01:09:17 Wow.

01:09:18 Yeah.

01:09:19 He made it in the last part of the course again.

01:09:23 That's where you win or lose this race.

01:09:27 I mean, you and I were both saying this is not looking like a Yuri Priskovic run.

01:09:30 And then he's just switched-- he's flicked a switch at the halfway stage and said, OK, let's put on a show.

01:09:37 And he has nailed that bottom part of the course.

01:09:41 Yeah.

01:09:42 And in the last down into the up, he really went for it.

01:09:47 He has put his boat in and out, which is really difficult to do.

01:09:52 You don't have-- yeah, he has the courage to do it.

01:09:55 But not everyone doesn't have that courage to just put your boat up because that's very hard to do.

01:10:02 And he managed to do it.

01:10:03 And that gave him the first place.

01:10:06 And there's only one boat to go.

01:10:09 It's not a bad boat, though.

01:10:10 No.

01:10:11 Can I just say something?

01:10:12 And I apologize to British fans watching.

01:10:15 I hope I don't have a sense of deja vu.

01:10:19 My mind's going back to the World Championships before the Tokyo Olympics when Joe Clark came out and finished just--

01:10:30 [LAUGHTER]

01:10:31 That's how you do that.

01:10:34 Just at the last moment finished second, the second Brit he was, and lost that Olympic quota.

01:10:42 Surely this is not going to happen today.

01:10:45 No.

01:10:46 And Joe is probably the one who can go under 90 seconds.

01:10:53 Yeah.

01:10:54 I mean, Yuri Krestovich's time is still outside the time that Joe Clark set in the semifinal.

01:10:58 Listen to the crowd.

01:10:59 They want their man.

01:11:00 They want another gold medal.

01:11:01 They're hungry for gold.

01:11:02 The British fans, Joe Clark, look at him go.

01:11:05 Woo-hoo!

01:11:06 He's going for it.

01:11:07 And we saw Jessica Fox, he went down last in the women's final.

01:11:13 And Joe is doing it the same.

01:11:15 And see if he can win this one.

01:11:18 Looking really good so far.

01:11:20 Oh, wow.

01:11:21 That was good.

01:11:22 That was very good.

01:11:23 I mean, he could sleepwalk his way down this course, though.

01:11:26 I mean, he worked so hard on it.

01:11:28 He does so much work on it.

01:11:29 Look at that.

01:11:30 2.37 seconds up.

01:11:32 But Krestovich was very fast at the bottom.

01:11:35 He was.

01:11:36 So, Joe has to keep going now and not think so much about anything else than putting down

01:11:42 his best run.

01:11:44 Listen to the crowd.

01:11:45 They're getting behind their man, the 2016 Olympic champion.

01:11:48 They want him.

01:11:49 Oh, so good.

01:11:50 That is a beautiful move.

01:11:53 Yeah.

01:11:55 Joe Clark, he's tracking, gun-tracked for a gold.

01:11:58 He is so good right now.

01:12:00 So, the time of Yuri Krestovich is a 93.26.

01:12:04 Oh, that's so fast.

01:12:05 Oh, he has done it.

01:12:07 He's going to go under 90.

01:12:10 Joe Clark, this is a run to remember for the man from Great Britain, Joe Clark.

01:12:15 He's your world champion.

01:12:17 Wow.

01:12:18 Yes.

01:12:19 Yeah.

01:12:20 Joe, come on!

01:12:23 Congratulations.

01:12:24 That was an amazing run.

01:12:26 Oh, you cannot believe what that would mean to Joe Clark, because I think that also means

01:12:31 that he's got his ticket for the Olympics.

01:12:33 I think that means he has the qualification spot for Great Britain.

01:12:37 And what a weight off his shoulders that would be.

01:12:40 Yeah.

01:12:41 And he said it.

01:12:42 He had one job to do here, and that was to win the gold medal.

01:12:46 And he did, with an incredible run.

01:12:49 Like, no one could, was close to that.

01:12:52 You know, you look at these two incredible paddlers, Yuri Krestovich and Joe Clark, their

01:12:58 body shapes, they're very different.

01:13:00 Yeah, they are.

01:13:02 But just the way they control their boat, for Joe it's just brute strength.

01:13:06 Yeah.

01:13:07 And he's just got so much power.

01:13:10 Yeah.

01:13:11 Throwing that boat around, and today, Frederik, just getting everything right.

01:13:15 Yeah, and I think also, to me, on the trainings all this week, we have been here, he has been

01:13:21 in so good confidence.

01:13:24 And that matters too.

01:13:26 I think he knew that he could win this, and that confidence he took all the way into the

01:13:32 final, and now he won.

01:13:34 And yeah, that's very impressive, to do it at your home course with the crowd and all

01:13:39 the things, with pressure.

01:13:41 Yeah.

01:13:42 And his memories from the last Olympic qualifier, where it all went wrong for him, in dramatic

01:13:49 style in the final of the men's K1.

01:13:54 But look at that confirmation there, look at that top three, what an incredible race

01:13:58 we've had.

01:13:59 Joe Clark from Great Britain, Yuri Priskovich from the Czech Republic, and Mati Soudi from

01:14:04 Morocco, taking the bronze medal.

01:14:07 He will be absolutely over the moon.

01:14:09 Yeah.

01:14:10 Matan Deguh missing out with only 0.02.

01:14:13 Only one paddler had a penalty, and that was Peter Kauser, who ended up getting a 50.

01:14:18 Yeah, he did.

01:14:19 He got the 50 in the end.

01:14:21 Yeah.

01:14:22 But even without the 50, he would have struggled.

01:14:25 Yeah, I think if you look at the times as well, except Joe, it was very good runs we

01:14:32 saw.

01:14:33 There was no one that did really bad.

01:14:35 They all did really well, I think.

01:14:37 We had a British bomber in the water, now we've got a British bomber in the skies.

01:14:41 As we have a flyover here on the course at Lee Valley.

01:14:46 And everybody giving them a wave.

01:14:48 Thank you very much.

01:14:49 We're all very happy down here.

01:14:50 We've just had an incredible K1 men's final.

01:14:54 Good for the crowd to see a win for the Great Britain home paddler.

01:15:01 Always good to see.

01:15:02 All right.

01:15:03 Well, Peter Kauser, I mean not Peter Kauser, Joe Clark has just made himself into the commentary

01:15:08 position.

01:15:09 Let's have a listen to his thoughts on that gold medal.

01:15:11 So good.

01:15:12 Congratulations, you're world champion.

01:15:14 How are you feeling?

01:15:16 Hard to put into words.

01:15:17 I mean, thank you so much to the crowd.

01:15:20 You were with me all the way and I really felt it on that bottom sprint.

01:15:23 Oh God, world champion at home.

01:15:25 Doesn't get any better than this, so thank you.

01:15:28 You excited?

01:15:29 Your son is watching, your wife, all your family here.

01:15:32 What was going through your head on that time?

01:15:34 I hope he's watching.

01:15:35 It's quarter to three, so he's probably asleep knowing Hugo.

01:15:37 But yeah, having all the home support, lots of friends and family down, but so many more

01:15:43 people here supporting me means so much.

01:15:45 And yeah, this is redemption.

01:15:49 2015, big mistakes.

01:15:51 Eight years later, here we are.

01:15:53 Congratulations.

01:15:55 Thank you.

01:15:56 Thank you.

01:15:59 Well, yeah, it's a good point.

01:16:00 He makes 2015 the same thing.

01:16:04 Didn't go his way on that day.

01:16:06 2019 certainly didn't go his way either.

01:16:09 But now 2023, Frederik Wallonen, it's all gone his way and what a perfect race for him.

01:16:15 Yeah.

01:16:16 Yeah.

01:16:17 So good run and he really deserved the gold medal.

01:16:20 He performed at his best, like the other did as well.

01:16:24 But no one could really threat Jost.

01:16:27 Yeah, paddling when he did the perfect run.

01:16:30 It was a quality final, that's for sure.

01:16:32 And I've got to say, there's some names there in the top ten, in the top five, that probably

01:16:38 we're a little bit surprised about but we're very happy about.

01:16:40 I mean, it's just a great advertisement for our sport.

01:16:42 When you look at the continents that were represented in the final, you know, you have Oceania,

01:16:49 you have Africa in there as well, just putting in, not just making up the numbers, but winning

01:16:56 medals and finishing top five.

01:16:57 That's pretty good effort.

01:16:58 Yeah, that's very good to see.

01:17:00 We like to see a big spread of the nations and different paddlers doing really good because

01:17:06 we know there's a lot of guys out there that are in a very, very high level.

01:17:11 So it's good to see them perform at their best.

01:17:14 And for those just joining us, we will remind you we had Olympic qualifiers as well here.

01:17:21 And I think the takeaway from all of that, Frederik, well, two things.

01:17:26 Congratulations to Sweden.

01:17:27 I think you've now confirmed that you have an Olympic quota.

01:17:31 Yes.

01:17:32 But I think the big story in a lot of talk between the semifinals and the finals was

01:17:36 the fact that the Germans, the German men have missed out on a quota for the K1.

01:17:42 Yeah, it seems that way.

01:17:44 And that's shocking.

01:17:45 And yeah, very surprised to know that now after the finals.

01:17:51 And unfortunately for them, there's no last chance saloon because they've already had

01:17:56 the European championships.

01:17:57 And on our reckoning, the way I look at the way it's folded, I think Austria will pick

01:18:02 up the quota from the European championships.

01:18:05 And it means that Germany will go to, they won't go in the men's K1 to Paris.

01:18:11 No.

01:18:12 But you'll be there.

01:18:13 Well, Sweden will be there.

01:18:14 Yeah, Sweden will be there, definitely.

01:18:16 Just a question of who will be there representing Sweden, Frederik.

01:18:19 Look, thank you so much for being part of the commentary team this afternoon.

01:18:23 It's been fantastic having your insights.

01:18:24 Thank you.

01:18:25 I'm glad you could join us and bring us some insights.

01:18:27 We're going to have the medal ceremony in just a moment.

01:18:30 But thank you for, are you doing the kayak cross?

01:18:33 Yeah, I'm doing that.

01:18:35 So we look forward to seeing you in the kayak cross tomorrow.

01:18:37 We'll bring you all the live coverage from the kayak cross tomorrow.

01:18:40 But thank you, Frederik, for being part of the commentary team.

01:18:42 Thank you for being here.

01:18:44 So Frederik Wallen from Sweden, as I mentioned, we'll have the medal ceremony coming your way

01:18:50 in just a moment.

01:18:51 We will bring you live coverage of the medal ceremony.

01:18:54 So stay with us.

01:18:55 We're going to see some pretty excited paddlers on top of the podium.

01:18:59 Jessica Fox returning to the top of the podium for the first time since 2018.

01:19:04 And Joe Clark, well, he will be beside himself, standing up there in front of the home crowd.

01:19:10 They will sing the anthem with gusto, I'm sure, when Joe Clark gets up there

01:19:17 and takes his first World Championship gold medal.

01:19:22 He was the Olympic champion in 2016, third in the Europeans this year,

01:19:27 two silver medals as well.

01:19:30 Now finally he gets to celebrate being a K1 World Champion.

01:19:36 It's been an incredible day's racing.

01:19:37 I hope you've enjoyed it.

01:19:39 Wherever you're watching around the world, for those who stayed up late in Oceania.

01:19:45 And now the crowd, you can see, moving into position for the medal ceremony.

01:20:00 They won't want to go home.

01:20:01 They'll want to enjoy it as they did yesterday when Great Britain won the gold and the silver medals.

01:20:11 So we've got a bit of a break now before the medal ceremony.

01:20:14 So I might take that opportunity just to run down again, just to repeat for the men.

01:20:19 Now I'm not going to do the women's Olympic quotas because they're a little bit more confusing.

01:20:25 That being because a lot of the women had already won quotas yesterday in the C1,

01:20:32 which means that they cannot win quotas in the K1.

01:20:37 But it all comes, and then of course countries can give quotas back if they want to change their lineups for the Olympics.

01:20:43 It's all a little bit confusing.

01:20:44 But let me first go through what we believe to be the quotas allocated this weekend for the men's K1.

01:20:55 So right there we've got 15 quotas.

01:20:57 So Great Britain obviously has a quota with Joe Clark.

01:21:01 Yuri Priskovic takes a quota for the Czech Republic.

01:21:05 Giovanni De Gennaro takes a quota for Italy.

01:21:10 Martin Dugud takes a quota for Switzerland.

01:21:14 Matas Sodhi takes a quota for Morocco.

01:21:18 So Africa have a quota.

01:21:20 Tim Anderson takes a quota for Australia.

01:21:23 So that's one, two, three, four, five, six already.

01:21:26 Peter Kauzer picks up the quota for Slovenia.

01:21:31 Matiu Polizek picks up the quota for Poland.

01:21:37 And Paolo Eschinerz picks up a quota for Spain.

01:21:40 So that is nine already.

01:21:42 So we have 15. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Spain.

01:21:46 So now we go outside the top ten for the next six quotas.

01:21:51 Xin Kuan picks up a quota for China.

01:21:57 Isaac Ostrom picks up the quota for Sweden.

01:22:01 Finn Butcher picks up the quota for New Zealand.

01:22:07 Now France already has a quota as the host nation.

01:22:11 So then you have to go to Yuki Tanaka, who picks up the quota for Japan.

01:22:17 So now we're looking at three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.

01:22:23 With Japan, Noel Hendrik.

01:22:27 Noel Hendrik takes a quota for Ireland.

01:22:31 And then the final quota, I'm just now looking down here, is Slovakia.

01:22:41 The final quota would be Slovakia, who is Adam Gonsenica.

01:22:45 Just tips out Jakub Grigor, but Adam Gonsenica picks up a quota for Slovakia.

01:22:50 So they are your 15 quotas today for the men.

01:22:54 Now please, this is still to be confirmed, but I'm just going through here the live results and working it out.

01:23:00 Now we turn to who gets the quota for the European qualifiers, the European Continentals, which has already been held.

01:23:07 And in Europe, in Krakow, the Czechs won the gold medal there, Yuri Priskovic.

01:23:14 So he's already got a quota, so that rules them out.

01:23:17 Greece finished second, Barton Dugud, but he's got a quota here.

01:23:21 Great Britain were third, but they've already got a quota, so that rules them out.

01:23:25 Austria are then next in the line, and they don't have a quota here, so on my reckoning, Austria has picked up the European quota.

01:23:39 So what that means, what we can confirm, if these results stay true,

01:23:46 if this is the way, if what I've said here is correct, it would mean that Germany, who has such a proud history in the men's K1,

01:23:55 will not be in Paris next year competing in the men's K1.

01:24:01 And that is quite unbelievable.

01:24:04 So there you go, folks.

01:24:06 So let me just run down that list again.

01:24:08 I'm reckoning the 15, well, let's say 16, if we add Austria in the 16 nations that tonight can celebrate earning a quota for Paris.

01:24:17 Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Morocco, Australia, Slovenia, Poland, Spain, China, Sweden, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, Slovakia, and Austria.

01:24:37 That's your men's K1 quotas.

01:24:41 Now, just for argument's sake, and this is very loose indeed, because as I said, for the women's K1, it is affected by the C1 yesterday.

01:24:55 So I'm going to go down the list here and rule out the people who already won quotas yesterday.

01:25:02 So Jess Fox already had a quota, so Australia has won, so she can't win a second quota.

01:25:09 Riccardo Funk picks up a quota for Germany.

01:25:13 Luca Jones picks up a quota for New Zealand.

01:25:16 Yes, for New Zealand.

01:25:18 Anna Satilla already had a quota.

01:25:21 Claudia Zwolinski picks up a quota for Poland.

01:25:26 Mallory Franklin already had a quota.

01:25:28 Stephanie Horn picks up a quota for Italy.

01:25:34 Sonia Stanowska picks up a quota for, well actually, Eliska Mintelova picks up the quota for Slovakia.

01:25:49 Martina Wegman picks up a quota for the Netherlands.

01:25:54 France has a quota already. Evie Leibvart already has a quota.

01:25:58 Monika Doria Villarubla already has a quota.

01:26:02 So Maylin Chirou for Spain picks up a quota.

01:26:08 Elena Marks from Switzerland, I think, picks up a quota.

01:26:14 Phoebe Spicer from Great Britain picks up a quota.

01:26:22 Antony Galaskova, I think, from the Czech Republic picks up a quota.

01:26:32 Karina Kuhnle must pick up a quota here. Let me just do some quick maths here.

01:26:36 Yes, so Karina Kuhnle from Austria must have a quota as well.

01:26:41 And then we get down to, phew, possibly Slovenia with Aja Novak picking up a quota.

01:26:50 she finished 26th but has she got a quota I think she might for Slovenia and

01:26:56 then Akei Ozawa from Japan picks up a quota and Kate Eckart from Australia

01:27:07 would pick up a quota so that is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 so I think from

01:27:17 that we then have to go to qualifying to get the 15th quota again please at home

01:27:29 this is a bit of an exercise I'm doing just to try and get an idea of where we

01:27:34 are but I'm going to go back now to the qualifying run the second qualifying run

01:27:38 for the women's kayak to see who possibly could have picked up the final

01:27:45 quota and well it would be I think Ria Shreba from the United States I think

01:27:56 that she has picked up the remaining the last remaining quota now whether the US

01:28:03 decide to take that and if they decide not to if they decide that Evie Leibvath

01:28:07 is the paddler they want to do both the K1 and the C1 it may then come down to

01:28:13 Carol Buzuti from Algeria and by the way if Australia decide that they don't need

01:28:22 Kate Eckart's qualifier as well well then it's gonna you're gonna go down to

01:28:28 we're going down the list now and Dora well China China China would then pick

01:28:36 up the qualifier the qualifier so I'm gonna stick my neck on the line here and

01:28:39 say that China will end up getting that quota yeah it's rough it my calculations

01:28:47 are very very rough and I would not if you're at a dinner party tonight or

01:28:53 you're going out for a few drinks with friends or you're just talking amongst

01:28:56 yourselves I wouldn't use it with any authority what I've just told you but

01:29:01 roughly roughly I'm going to say that the quotas for the women's K1 could fall

01:29:08 this way Germany New Zealand Poland Italy Slovakia the Netherlands Spain

01:29:18 Switzerland Great Britain Czech Republic Austria Slovenia Japan Australia and

01:29:29 United States but some of those countries will give their quotas back

01:29:36 I'm pretty certain about that and then we start to get down to China Algeria as

01:29:44 possibly picking up quotas it's very confusing there's a lot of work to be

01:29:49 done but the way I'm looking at at the moment that's that's the standing that's

01:29:54 the standing that's where we are that's the state of play for our quotas for the

01:30:00 women's K1 now I can't give you I need to go into a bit more detail to work out

01:30:05 who would pick up the European quota it's a little bit more confusing because

01:30:13 the European top ten all of those paddlers picked up quotas here so anyway

01:30:20 that's another exercise for another day let's now sit back and enjoy some medal

01:30:25 ceremonies folks the women's and the men's K1 world champions from Lee Valley

01:30:30 in 2023 ladies and gentlemen the medal ceremony of the women's kayak singles

01:30:37 will begin

01:30:40 [Music]

01:31:08 ladies and gentlemen we present the medalists for the women's kayak singles

01:31:15 the medals will be presented by Luciano Bonfiglio ICF treasurer and acting vice

01:31:23 president accompanied by the representative of the National

01:31:28 Federation of Australia

01:31:32 [Music]

01:31:39 the bronze medalist Claudia Swolinska-Polon

01:31:47 [Music]

01:32:16 the silver medalist Eliska Mintelova Slovakia

01:32:24 [Music]

01:32:50 the gold medalist and world champion Jessica Fox Australia

01:33:02 [Music]

01:33:30 [Applause]

01:33:36 please if you are able to rise for the National Anthem of Australia

01:33:43 [Music]

01:34:12 [Music]

01:34:41 ladies and gentlemen please show your recognition for the 2023 ICF canoe slalom

01:34:49 women's kayak singles world championship

01:34:55 [Music]

01:34:57 well you don't often see emotion like that with Jessica Fox she's ice cool but

01:35:04 it just shows what today meant for her to win that gold medal to break that

01:35:08 drought for her 2018 was the last time that she was a K1 world champion and

01:35:13 she's now back on top of the podium it means a lot to her but it means a lot to

01:35:17 Eliska Mintelova as well and Claudia Swolinska because they are your silver

01:35:21 and bronze medalists it's a quality podium folks it really is but today if

01:35:27 you get a chance go back and watch the run of Jessica Fox it was something

01:35:31 special considering and I don't mean that in terms of it would be a brilliant

01:35:36 run because by her standards it wasn't she had mistakes she had an early touch

01:35:40 she nearly flipped at one stage but just the determination and the power that she

01:35:45 put into that race to get back on track and to eventually claim that gold medal

01:35:50 that world title in this the year before an Olympic Games well it meant a lot to

01:35:55 her and she will be celebrating tonight I'm sure not for long though because she

01:36:00 has kayak cross tomorrow and she'll want to come out and try and do a little

01:36:05 workout and try and win that title as well picking out she'd love to pick up

01:36:10 three medals in a weekend well done Eliska Mintelova she's in very good form

01:36:14 at the moment she won gold in Laseo at our last World Cup and second today and

01:36:20 of course we all head off to Paris for the final World Cup of the year which

01:36:25 will also be a test event on our Olympic venue and that's coming up in a couple

01:36:29 of weeks so I hope you can join us for that and Claudia Swolinska who again

01:36:34 today showed what she's capable of and going through and taking the bronze

01:36:39 medal well done as well to Martina Vegeman and Anna Satyla rounding out our

01:36:43 top five for our World Championships in the women's K1 in just a moment we're

01:36:48 going to have the medal presentation and look at the crowd building they're

01:36:51 building to see their man have a gold medal placed around his neck Joe Clark

01:36:56 an incredible race under so much pressure in front of his home crowd and

01:37:03 with memories of what's happened in 2015 and 2019 he even said that in his

01:37:08 interview afterwards that there was redemption here today and he now is on

01:37:15 top of the world he has the crown he is the king and in a moment we'll anoint

01:37:20 him as we should do after a run like he performed today he also will be out

01:37:27 tomorrow to become a kayak cross world champion again both he and Jessica Fox

01:37:32 have been up there a couple of times and they'd like to take this form from

01:37:36 today into tomorrow and win kayak cross gold if you have never seen a kayak

01:37:41 cross race can I recommend to you to clear some time in your diary tomorrow

01:37:47 to sit back and watch the kayak cross competition because it's like nothing

01:37:51 you would have ever seen before it's action-packed it's exciting it's

01:37:56 thrilling and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you see but

01:38:01 now let's sit back and enjoy the medal presentation for the men's k1

01:38:05 ladies and gentlemen the medal ceremony of the men's kayak singles will begin

01:38:18 now

01:38:20 so

01:38:21 [Music]

01:38:49 ladies and gentlemen we present the medalists for the men's kayak singles

01:38:55 the medals will be presented by professor John Coyne CBE chair of

01:39:02 British canoeing accompanied by the representative of the National

01:39:07 Federation of Great Britain

01:39:11 [Music]

01:39:21 the bronze medalist Mattis Zoudey Marocco

01:39:29 [Music]

01:39:58 the silver medalist Yuri Priskovic the Czech Republic

01:40:06 [Music]

01:40:31 [Applause]

01:40:38 the gold medalist and world champion Joe Clark Great Britain

01:40:49 [Applause]

01:40:59 [Music]

01:41:17 [Applause]

01:41:20 please if you are able to rise for the national anthem of Great Britain

01:41:29 [Applause]

01:41:32 [Music]

01:41:57 [Applause]

01:42:00 [Music]

01:42:13 ladies and gentlemen please show recognition for the 2023 ICF canoe

01:42:20 slalom men's kayak singles world championship medalists

01:42:26 [Music]

01:42:38 well done Joe Clark well done Yuri Priskovic well done Mattis Zoudey

01:42:42 three very worthy medalists there but for Joe Clark in front of his home

01:42:47 crowd his first ever individual world championship medal hard to believe hard

01:42:52 to believe but what a time for him to do that in front of his home crowd on the

01:42:56 eve of another Olympic Games it will be a great weight off his shoulders tonight

01:43:02 I am sure for Joe Clark but he he deserved it today he put everything out

01:43:06 there and he gave us all a little bit of a lesson in how to canoe slalom paddle

01:43:11 on your home course to keep your home fans happy there is the medal table as

01:43:17 we go into one last day of competition Great Britain the host nation sitting

01:43:21 up on top with three gold and six medals overall there's Australia sitting there

01:43:25 in third in a second the Czech Republic France Slovenia thanks for your company

01:43:31 today folks hope you can join us for the kayak cross tomorrow it will be a super

01:43:35 day of paddling but for me Ross Solley it's been great to have your company

01:43:38 today see you from Lee Valley back again tomorrow

01:43:42 [Music]

01:44:11 [Music]

01:44:25 [Music]

01:44:34 [Music]

01:44:44 [Music]

01:44:54 [Music]

01:45:04 [Music]

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