WK & MC: Finals / 2023 ICF Canoe-Kayak Slalom World Cup Vaires Sur Marne Paris France (47)

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2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup
5–8 October, Vaires Sur Marne Paris France ️
https://planet.canoeicf.com/2023SlalomWorldCupVairesSurMarne

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00:00:00 [Beeping]
00:00:10 [Music]
00:00:37 Hello everyone, welcome to Paris. Welcome to the Olympic venue 2024 for Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross.
00:00:44 My name is Ross Solley. We are about to bring you some of the best canoe slalom action you're likely to see this year.
00:00:51 It is World Cup Finals Day, folks. It's the day when our World Cup champions for 2023 will be decided.
00:00:59 That's just one of the stories that's about to unfold, though.
00:01:02 There is so many subplots which are about to unfold right before your eyes.
00:01:07 My name is Ross Solley. It is great to be with you.
00:01:10 Joining me in the commentary box is Australian Brodie Crawford.
00:01:14 Hello, Brodie. How are you, mate?
00:01:15 I'm good.
00:01:16 Look forward to the men's K1, C1 and the women's K1.
00:01:20 It's all to play for, Ross. Double points up.
00:01:23 It's been a long season, some big racing so far. It all comes down to today.
00:01:28 It does all come down to today. 120 points up for grabs for the winners.
00:01:32 We'll explain all of that to you in just a moment.
00:01:34 But we are preparing now for the women's K1.
00:01:37 I have to say, Brodie, that already today we've seen it's a very challenging course.
00:01:41 In just a moment, we'll come back to you in just a moment with your assessment of the course.
00:01:49 But let's first of all have a listen to our world champion, our reigning world champion from Australia, Jessica Fox.
00:01:55 It was great to put down a good semi-final run to qualify for the final.
00:02:00 The crowd was amazing. The kids really are setting an awesome atmosphere.
00:02:05 Thanks to the kids who set the atmosphere today.
00:02:07 It was a little bit stressful when I crossed the finish line.
00:02:09 I thought I'd qualified and then there was word that there was a 50-second penalty.
00:02:13 So I was a bit confused because I thought I was quite on line.
00:02:18 In the end, it was a second touch.
00:02:20 So good to be in the final and ready to give it everything I have.
00:02:25 Yeah, she was confused. We were confused as well, Brodie, because initially she was given a two-second and that was taken off.
00:02:35 Then she was given a 50.
00:02:36 Yeah.
00:02:37 And so that meant that she was out of the final, but then that was put back to a two-second penalty.
00:02:41 It was a very confusing moment.
00:02:43 A couple of minutes. It was all okay in the end, though.
00:02:45 And you just saw there, that's the standings as we go into this final of the World Cup.
00:02:49 And it is Jessica Fox on top with 188 points just behind her.
00:02:53 It is Elena Lilic on 185.
00:02:55 And then Claudia Swolinska from Poland on 162.
00:02:59 Those three paddlers are all in this final.
00:03:01 There were 12 paddlers. It's not your usual 10.
00:03:05 It's 12.
00:03:06 And the reason for that is that next year at the Olympics, we will be having 12 paddlers in the finals.
00:03:12 That's right. It's the Olympic Test event as well as the final World Cup.
00:03:15 So it's a bit of a practice run.
00:03:17 Test everything. Test the format.
00:03:19 And so far, it's going pretty well, hey, Ross?
00:03:22 I think so.
00:03:23 Except for the athletes who haven't made it, of course.
00:03:25 Now, there we go. Have a look at that. Gate 12.
00:03:28 Oh, it claimed some people, didn't it?
00:03:30 Very problematic.
00:03:31 It's a combination where you can take a risk.
00:03:34 But as we can see from the statistics there, Brodie, a lot of paddlers coming up short.
00:03:39 Yeah. There's an option to either spin the boat where you turn it 360 degrees to make the turn easier
00:03:45 or go direct where you do it straight.
00:03:47 And straight is faster, but far out.
00:03:49 If you don't make enough space, it's all over there.
00:03:52 And we saw a bit of that happening in the semifinal.
00:03:55 So we are about to get underway.
00:03:56 And the very first paddler on the course will be Stephanie Horn.
00:03:59 She is also in touch if she wants to.
00:04:03 I'm sure she wants to if she is hoping to be a World Cup champion this season.
00:04:08 She's currently sitting fifth on 134 points.
00:04:11 So a podium would go a long way for her to be in the mix for a medal.
00:04:15 Not for a medal, but for a top three finish in the World Cup standings.
00:04:19 But we are underway.
00:04:20 I will tell you now, folks watching at home, that Luca Jones set the fastest time of a 103.43.
00:04:28 Jess Fox, her raw time, though, was just under 100.
00:04:32 Brodie, do you think any of these athletes will go under 100 in this final?
00:04:36 Yeah, I think they will.
00:04:37 Just from watching Jess's run, I think, yeah, the sub-100 is definitely there.
00:04:44 And I think someone is going to do it to take the win.
00:04:46 Where has Stephanie gone?
00:04:47 She has gone off into the next course.
00:04:48 Yeah, we have seen that too, just crossing there across the stopper,
00:04:51 just falling off the wave and not quite getting to that next stagger, seven.
00:04:55 And she has got the gate, just taking the touch.
00:04:58 So she is going to need to pick up that time on the bottom here.
00:05:01 There is places to make the time loss, as we talked about.
00:05:04 But she got the touch, but she also lost a lot of time, Brodie.
00:05:08 She ended up well off course.
00:05:10 Oh, and you have got a 50. Oh, no, it is gone.
00:05:14 Yeah, that was a bit, I saw that as well.
00:05:17 I thought, oh, she missed that gate, but no, she had not.
00:05:19 So she is okay. She has got a two-second.
00:05:21 Well, they are still confused.
00:05:22 They want to put a 50 on her for some reason.
00:05:25 Let us just wait and see how that plays out there.
00:05:27 Obviously, having a look at something, but a bit hard to tell from this angle.
00:05:32 But at this stage, Stephanie Horn, a bit of a struggle for her this run.
00:05:36 Yeah, definitely during this final, pay attention to 15, 16, 17, 18,
00:05:41 because there is a lot of time in those gates.
00:05:43 And we just saw another touch there.
00:05:45 Time to be lost as well.
00:05:46 So I think it will be the make or break.
00:05:48 Yeah.
00:05:49 No, so it has not been.
00:05:50 You can see how tired Stephanie Horn is.
00:05:52 She looks absolutely spent, absolutely exhausted.
00:05:57 Yeah.
00:05:58 As she crosses the line, she is exhausted.
00:06:00 That is a tough run.
00:06:02 And she will not be happy with that time.
00:06:04 1.14, you would not think that that is going to be anywhere near a medal proposition.
00:06:10 Yeah.
00:06:11 That is the thing with Canoe Slalom.
00:06:12 It is hard to see on the screen, but when you get off line, you lose time,
00:06:15 but you also have to work a lot harder in the whole run.
00:06:18 So you get more tired, and you also lose time because you are doing longer lines.
00:06:22 So it is a double whammy.
00:06:24 The good news for Stephanie Horn, though, she was telling me the other day,
00:06:27 is that she is pretty well guaranteed of getting the Italian selection for Paris,
00:06:33 which will be her third Olympics roadie.
00:06:35 Wow.
00:06:36 Very impressive.
00:06:37 Congrats to her.
00:06:38 Yep.
00:06:39 German-born, of course, but paddles for Italy, and has really had a great couple of seasons.
00:06:44 And we will see her in the Kite and Cross later this weekend,
00:06:46 I am sure, where she has really made a mark this season.
00:06:49 But that time, unfortunately, for Stephanie Horn, over 1.14.63,
00:06:54 it is not going to challenge for a medal tonight, I think.
00:06:57 Yeah.
00:06:58 I think it will be a little shy.
00:07:00 Those three two-second penalties are just too much.
00:07:04 Now, Claudia Zulinska, bronze medalist at our World Championships in Lee Valley,
00:07:09 just a couple of weeks ago,
00:07:10 was a bit of a breakthrough moment for the young Polish paddler.
00:07:14 Can she really put down a solid effort today, though?
00:07:17 She does make a few mistakes, but she is fast.
00:07:19 We know how fast she can be.
00:07:21 Yeah, let us see how she goes.
00:07:22 She had a bit of a funny moment in training this week,
00:07:24 where she swam down the course, lost her kayak.
00:07:28 I am not sure what happened, but I think all was well,
00:07:31 and the boat seems OK.
00:07:33 Do not worry about the boat. Was she OK?
00:07:35 She was putting it behind her.
00:07:36 Was she OK?
00:07:37 Yes, I think she saw the comical side.
00:07:39 Did she?
00:07:40 Yeah.
00:07:41 Yes, well, you do after, in hindsight,
00:07:43 when you get a chance to go back and review the tape.
00:07:46 So let us see this move here, much smoother.
00:07:48 Yeah, very good.
00:07:49 Move there from Zulinska from Poland.
00:07:51 As I mentioned in the introduction,
00:07:53 she is currently sitting in third position on the overall World Cup standings.
00:07:58 So she is in a good spot, if she can get herself into a top five,
00:08:02 to be challenging for a top three finale,
00:08:05 which would be a good result for Klaudia Zulinska for this season.
00:08:08 It has been, as Brodie said, it has been a very long season for all these athletes.
00:08:12 Speaking to a few of them, Brodie, over the past couple of days,
00:08:15 they have all basically been talking, including yourself,
00:08:17 about how tired everyone is feeling.
00:08:20 Yeah, it is a lot of racing, a lot of travelling, training, peaking,
00:08:26 trying to, and then also just the stress and everything that comes with racing
00:08:30 at the highest level, it gets to you eventually.
00:08:33 So, a good run here from Zulinska.
00:08:35 Look at that, she is, the split time is pretty good,
00:08:38 but Stephanie Horne's time was not very fast, though,
00:08:42 so she would still want to, Zulinska, sorry,
00:08:46 pick up some time at the bottom here.
00:08:48 We are looking at possibly a sub-100 for the win,
00:08:51 so you want to be close to that mark, you want to get a taste of the medals today,
00:08:55 which is not bad.
00:08:56 That is not bad.
00:08:57 That is going to be a roundabout.
00:08:59 So, 1.02, let us just have a look in the semi-final how many athletes went under that.
00:09:04 Well, not many.
00:09:06 No.
00:09:07 In fact, only Fox and Jones went under that time in the semi,
00:09:13 so maybe, just maybe, that is a medal-winning time.
00:09:19 Yes, very solid.
00:09:20 Just built the run as it went.
00:09:23 Yes, very well done.
00:09:26 Good on her.
00:09:27 Well, it is nicer to get those runs on the board
00:09:30 and then sit back and let everybody else try and go better.
00:09:34 I think she was pretty happy with that.
00:09:36 She struggled this season to put clean runs on the board,
00:09:39 and that is a clean run, no touches at all.
00:09:42 And I think more than anything, she would be pretty happy with that,
00:09:45 that she has managed to stay out of trouble.
00:09:48 She does not look that pumped about it,
00:09:51 but that excitement will grow, I am sure, when she sees the next few athletes.
00:09:56 Now, Elena Lilic, currently second on the overall standings,
00:09:59 just three points behind Jessica Fox.
00:10:02 So, you would think, Brody, that whoever finishes first,
00:10:07 the highest out of Lilic and Fox,
00:10:09 would be in prime position for World Cup champion 2023.
00:10:14 Yes, definitely.
00:10:15 They are in the hot seat.
00:10:16 I mean, with the double points,
00:10:18 it still can sort of drop down further than that,
00:10:20 but those two at the top, it is whoever is in front.
00:10:24 Look at Elena Lilic.
00:10:25 She looks like a paddler on a mission.
00:10:29 I am not sure what the current –
00:10:30 I mentioned the subplots at play here,
00:10:32 and that is that for many, many countries,
00:10:35 this is also Olympic selections, this event.
00:10:38 And it is going to come down to races like this one.
00:10:41 Now, of course, Ricarda Funk, the reigning Olympic champion, is not here.
00:10:46 She has got COVID, so she is missing from the World Cup.
00:10:49 Oh, wow.
00:10:50 I think it is about the fourth time she has had COVID.
00:10:51 Yes, I feel like I have heard this story before.
00:10:53 Yes, I think she picked ahead of last year for one of the World Cups as well.
00:10:58 So, she has had it a few times, a couple of times at least.
00:11:01 But she is not here.
00:11:02 But, of course, Elena Lilic, who does both the K1 and the C1.
00:11:06 She is putting down a very nice run here, Ross.
00:11:09 Super good at the top.
00:11:10 Yes.
00:11:11 Very safe and smooth.
00:11:12 Going the direct line here.
00:11:13 Nailed it.
00:11:14 Look at that.
00:11:15 Wow, I think it is the best we have seen.
00:11:16 Yes, he is really, really good.
00:11:17 Well and truly under the split as well.
00:11:19 So, Elena Lilic wanting to make her mark in the absence of her highly credentialed team.
00:11:26 Oh, there is a sneaky touch there with the back of the boat.
00:11:29 That second spin would not have been the plan.
00:11:32 So, a little bit more time lost there.
00:11:35 And the time now starting to slip away.
00:11:37 So, what has Elena Lilic got as she comes down to the bottom of the course?
00:11:41 It is pretty good.
00:11:44 It was pretty good for Lilic.
00:11:45 So, the German now turns.
00:11:47 I do not think she is going to be in the lead.
00:11:49 She will move into second position for Elena Lilic.
00:11:51 But just losing the way a little bit.
00:11:55 So good for the first three quarters of that run.
00:11:58 Yes.
00:11:59 But, yes, it is a make or break in the bottom section there.
00:12:03 I did a bit of research.
00:12:05 Oh, hello.
00:12:06 I am scared to talk about it.
00:12:07 Do not take my word for it.
00:12:09 But I believe the Germans will go to a domestic selection.
00:12:12 So, this does not happen.
00:12:15 Right.
00:12:16 Right.
00:12:17 Well, I mean that is a world championship race in itself, is it not?
00:12:22 You have got Lilic.
00:12:23 Yes, FUNK.
00:12:24 Lilic taking on FUNK for the K1.
00:12:30 Yes.
00:12:31 And Lilic taking on Herzog for the C1.
00:12:33 Yes.
00:12:34 This is ridiculous, is it not?
00:12:35 Oh, my goodness.
00:12:36 It does not even bear thinking about.
00:12:38 But there was a sneaky little touch there on the back for Elena Lilic.
00:12:43 Yes, that is where it sort of started to come undone for it, is it not?
00:12:47 Yes.
00:12:48 Just a bit wide in the first spin and then, yes.
00:12:51 I am going to go out on a limb here.
00:12:52 Do you mind if I go out on a limb, Brodie?
00:12:54 Go out on a limb.
00:12:55 Let us do it.
00:12:56 You are not going to leave me hanging, are you?
00:12:57 No.
00:12:58 I reckon Claudia Zolinska is 102.73.
00:13:01 I am going to say it is a top five.
00:13:03 I am going to say it is going to be close.
00:13:05 Yes, I back you on that.
00:13:08 I think that could be a medal too.
00:13:10 I mean it would have won the semifinal.
00:13:12 Yes.
00:13:13 There were some fast raw times, but I think you are on the money there.
00:13:17 So Sonia Stanowska is on course now.
00:13:20 And she has the luxury of not having her teammate, Leska Mintelova, in this final.
00:13:27 Mintelova, one of the big names missing.
00:13:29 She got a 50 second penalty.
00:13:31 Oh, there is a touch though for Stanowska.
00:13:33 Mintelova got a 50 second penalty and that put her out of the final.
00:13:37 I do not know what the current situation is with selections for us.
00:13:41 I know that it is coming down to this competition.
00:13:44 Yes, right.
00:13:45 Mintelova must be in a very strong position.
00:13:47 She won in Laseo and she won a silver medal at the World Championship.
00:13:51 So surely that must put her in a good spot.
00:13:53 Yes, I think Sonia will have to really lay down a good result here.
00:13:57 Sonia would have to win, you would think.
00:13:59 I mean again, I am not a selector.
00:14:00 You would think so, yes.
00:14:01 I mean we do not know, but it makes sense, does it not?
00:14:03 It certainly does.
00:14:04 But I just want to see Sonia Stanowska put together a great run.
00:14:07 She has got the S move here.
00:14:08 Oh, she has missed it.
00:14:10 We saw a few of the men do it and they picked up a lot of time.
00:14:15 Sonia trying to do it as well, but just pushed the boat past the gate.
00:14:18 I mean it is a good move if you can nail it.
00:14:21 Yes, it is a creative way to make the gate a bit faster.
00:14:24 But yes, it has got some risk to it.
00:14:26 So Stanowska well down now on the split and really has some work to do.
00:14:32 She has that touch as well on gate number four.
00:14:35 She had a great final under 23 World Championships this year.
00:14:39 It is all falling apart.
00:14:42 Yes, very slow through that section and a big touch.
00:14:46 And that was not too bad though.
00:14:49 She managed to get through that combination,
00:14:51 which is one of the trickiest ones on the course.
00:14:55 Yes, and a strong finish into the last upstream.
00:14:58 You can see that time there, folks.
00:15:00 We are looking at the low 100s to be anywhere near the middle,
00:15:05 preferably under 100 if you can.
00:15:07 But Stanowska has always got a smile on her face though.
00:15:12 Happy to have just made the final.
00:15:15 Happy to be here.
00:15:16 Yes, indeed.
00:15:17 It is good to see.
00:15:18 So Stanowska slips into fourth position.
00:15:21 So Zwolinski from Poland, still the only paddler so far in this final,
00:15:25 grody to have had a clean run.
00:15:27 That Indian could be a very important factor.
00:15:29 Yes, for sure.
00:15:30 It is such a tricky course with the offsets, the green gates,
00:15:35 particularly in this course, are very hard.
00:15:37 So we have seen a lot of touches.
00:15:38 So a clean run could make the difference.
00:15:41 It probably will.
00:15:44 We have a lot of very good athletes to come though.
00:15:46 We have had four.
00:15:48 We have got eight to come.
00:15:49 Just remember, folks, it is 12 paddlers in the final.
00:15:52 It is not your usual 10.
00:15:53 It is 12 paddlers.
00:15:55 And the other point you need to remember is double points
00:15:58 because it is the World Cup final.
00:16:00 So double points up the grabs.
00:16:03 And at the moment, one, two, three, four, five.
00:16:11 Five of the athletes in the current top 10 are in this final.
00:16:17 Five of the athletes in the current top standings in the World Cup.
00:16:20 Corinna Kuhnle is not in the top 10.
00:16:23 But it is great to see her paddling well.
00:16:25 And, of course, the race is in Austria for Olympics selection.
00:16:28 Corinna Kuhnle trying to get to another Olympics.
00:16:32 She has had such a great career.
00:16:35 She has.
00:16:36 She has had a long, successful career at the top, hasn't she?
00:16:38 She has been up there for so long now.
00:16:40 I remember watching her when I was just a junior, I think, winning medals.
00:16:44 So good start to this run.
00:16:46 Very nice spin move off the wave there.
00:16:49 Very tight there, but getting it done.
00:16:51 She has had a very difficult Olympic three years preparation.
00:16:58 She had COVID and really, really struggled to recover
00:17:02 and spent a lot of time off the water
00:17:05 because she just did not have the energy to paddle.
00:17:07 So she missed a lot of racing.
00:17:09 Yes, I did not know that.
00:17:10 It is sort of similar to Luca Jones there.
00:17:11 A similar story.
00:17:12 Yes, exactly the same as Luca Jones.
00:17:14 And really missed so much competition.
00:17:16 But, I mean, the thing is when you are so experienced, Brody,
00:17:19 you can come back and you can pick up the vibe and pick up the pace pretty quickly.
00:17:22 Yes, it is very impressive from her and Luca Jones, both back up and amongst.
00:17:26 And really quick again.
00:17:27 It is awesome to see.
00:17:28 It is not easy to come back from that.
00:17:30 This is a nice run there from Kuhnle.
00:17:32 Really smooth.
00:17:33 Look at that split time.
00:17:34 Looking good.
00:17:36 Can she nail this move?
00:17:37 Yes, she can.
00:17:38 Very nice.
00:17:39 So we might be looking at our first sub 100.
00:17:41 Let us have a look now.
00:17:42 Last move.
00:17:43 Oh, no.
00:17:44 Just a couple of seconds there, I reckon.
00:17:46 Just losing a little bit.
00:17:48 So she is not going to be sub 100, but she will go into the lead, you would think.
00:17:52 That is pretty close.
00:17:53 Corrina Kuhnle just inside.
00:17:55 Wow.
00:17:56 Corrina Kuhnle, she does have a review on gate 14.
00:17:59 So if she gets a two-second penalty there, that will drop her down the list.
00:18:05 And they are moving around now, shuffling around in the kiss and cry.
00:18:10 It is Kuhnle now sitting in the number one position.
00:18:14 And Zolinska drops back to second.
00:18:17 Good run there from Kuhnle, though.
00:18:19 Very good, yes.
00:18:20 Really good.
00:18:21 Just the final move, really.
00:18:22 Just losing a couple of seconds.
00:18:24 Apart from that, it was flying.
00:18:26 The asterisk has been removed.
00:18:27 So that time will stand.
00:18:29 Corrina Kuhnle is our new race leader on a 102.37.
00:18:33 What a great finale to the season it would be to have Kuhnle back up on a podium, Brodie Crawford.
00:18:41 I think the likelihood is quite high of that.
00:18:45 She might pick up a medal here.
00:18:47 So some of the big names I mentioned that Aliska Mintelova is missing from this final.
00:18:53 So is Mallory Franklin from Great Britain.
00:18:55 And Mailin Sheru, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, is also missing there.
00:19:01 Just three of the big names who didn't make this final.
00:19:04 That's how tough racing was.
00:19:07 Yes, I think a new course, which no one has really got the home advantage on, apart from maybe the French,
00:19:13 and a combination of a tricky gate sequence that's been set.
00:19:17 So it's claimed some big heads.
00:19:19 So I mentioned subplots, and this is one of them.
00:19:22 The French team, this is their final selection race for the Olympics next year.
00:19:26 And we have two French paddlers going head-to-head in this competition.
00:19:30 He's at the moment Camille Prigent, and the next paddler on the course will be Emma Vuitton.
00:19:35 I'm not sure if it's just the case of whoever finishes highest will get the nod for this race,
00:19:40 but it's really, really open, Brodie.
00:19:43 It's exciting stuff, isn't it?
00:19:44 I feel nervous just watching Camille here.
00:19:46 All to play for.
00:19:47 It is.
00:19:48 Listen to the crowd.
00:19:49 Apparently there's more than 2,000 kids from local schools who have come out today,
00:19:54 taking a Friday off school.
00:19:55 And look at that.
00:19:56 You can see in the background, Brodie.
00:19:58 Brilliant, isn't it?
00:19:59 Oh, yeah, it's awesome.
00:20:00 They've got some energy, those kids.
00:20:01 It's crazy.
00:20:02 They're wild.
00:20:03 The flags are waving around wildly, but they should be too,
00:20:06 because we are seeing a great run here from Camille Prigent from France.
00:20:12 Just slipping a little bit behind now on the split.
00:20:14 Oh, it's late.
00:20:15 Oh, a touch.
00:20:16 There was a touch.
00:20:17 Gone to save that move.
00:20:19 The back off where they paddle backwards to just get the gate last second.
00:20:24 Two seconds, though.
00:20:25 I wonder whether that's going to be crucial.
00:20:26 Kunle and Zolinska, first and second at the moment, both had clean runs.
00:20:31 So Prigent is going to have to do something very special to get under their times
00:20:35 with the two-second penalty.
00:20:38 Pretty good there, though.
00:20:39 That was good.
00:20:40 She's doing some ducking and weaving, isn't she?
00:20:41 She's -- yeah.
00:20:42 No, this is like Elvis Presley when he was at his peak.
00:20:45 Oh, and that was perfect.
00:20:47 Really good.
00:20:48 Now, she's not going to go into the lead, but is she going to challenge for top three?
00:20:53 No.
00:20:55 No, she's not.
00:20:57 Goodness me.
00:20:59 That two-second penalty, that's all the difference there.
00:21:03 That would have -- well, with the two-second penalty, she would still only be sitting in third position.
00:21:09 And look at that.
00:21:10 Fantastic.
00:21:12 Not sure what that spells.
00:21:13 Is it Ali?
00:21:14 Ali, Ali, Ali.
00:21:15 Ali, Ali, Ali, yeah.
00:21:16 Quite possibly.
00:21:17 Go, go, go, is it?
00:21:18 I think, Ross.
00:21:19 Yeah.
00:21:20 How's your French, mate?
00:21:21 It's pretty rusty, to be honest.
00:21:22 Pretty rusty.
00:21:23 It never was that fluid.
00:21:26 So we are halfway through this final, and the current race leader is Corinna Kuhnle from Austria, sitting there with a 102.37.
00:21:35 Will that be enough for a medal?
00:21:37 Well, we'll hear from Corinna herself in just a moment.
00:21:40 Claudia Zwolinska sitting there in second, and Elena Livic in third.
00:21:45 But we have six paddlers still to come, including the current world champion.
00:21:53 So a bit of quality still to come.
00:21:55 But before we get into the final six, let's catch up with our current race leader, the Austrian, Corinna Kuhnle, trying to get back to the Olympics.
00:22:06 I'm with Corinna in the Kiss and Cry section.
00:22:09 Corinna, you're currently leading the women's kayak final.
00:22:11 Tell us how it feels.
00:22:13 It feels amazing.
00:22:14 I would like to speak French to all these kids, because the atmosphere is amazing, but I can't speak any French, so thank you, everyone.
00:22:22 Amazing.
00:22:23 And it's been a very long season.
00:22:25 What would it mean for you to finish with a podium?
00:22:27 This would mean everything to me.
00:22:30 No matter what happens, I'm really happy and satisfied with my paddling today.
00:22:35 Thank you so much.
00:22:36 Good luck.
00:22:37 Thanks.
00:22:38 Yeah.
00:22:40 I think it would be just wonderful.
00:22:42 It would be the strawberry on top of the cream cake.
00:22:46 I think Brodie Crawford, if she was to finish off with a medal, and I think it would be confirmation just in her own mind that she's still got it.
00:22:52 She can still do it with the big guns.
00:22:55 Yeah, especially leading into that Olympic year.
00:22:59 Yeah, it's not easy to come back from, so it's impressive and feels a bit of confidence for her moving to the Paris Olympics.
00:23:06 I can't remember for certain, but I think from memory the Austrian team selection was a little bit contentious before the last Olympics, and of course Victoria Wolfhard got the nod for Tokyo,
00:23:19 so I think Corinna Kuhnle would very much like to get back on that Olympic team and get to another Olympics.
00:23:24 But that is for the future.
00:23:26 They can work that out themselves.
00:23:28 There you go.
00:23:29 Allez bleu.
00:23:30 Allez bleu.
00:23:32 Go, France.
00:23:34 Go, the French blues.
00:23:36 French blues.
00:23:37 Ah, right.
00:23:38 Gotcha.
00:23:39 I think so.
00:23:40 Look at that kids.
00:23:41 Isn't this fantastic?
00:23:42 Yeah.
00:23:43 Have a look there at your crowd, folks, because in years to come a few of those young kids could be out there on the water doing exactly what Emma Vuitton is doing right now, racing for World Cup glory.
00:23:56 And the ground announcer, he's doing a great job getting everyone fired up.
00:24:00 Look at their steely determination, Brodie.
00:24:02 She looks really determined.
00:24:03 I'm excited for this.
00:24:04 I didn't realize how young she is, Ross.
00:24:05 Impressive paddle off her, eh?
00:24:06 She's just a teenager.
00:24:07 Wow.
00:24:08 Emma Vuitton.
00:24:10 And she would imagine, I'm sure she'd be thinking, "Wow, if it's like this now, imagine what it would be next year at the Olympics.
00:24:15 I'd better really put down a good run so I can make sure I'm here for it."
00:24:18 So she, again, I don't know for certain what the criteria is, but I think it would be a big help to her if she was able to finish ahead of her teammate, Cammy Pugent.
00:24:28 I suspect it's not as simple as that, but it would be a big feather in her cap, though, Brodie.
00:24:33 Yeah, for sure.
00:24:34 A little tight in the gates at the start of this course, but just needs to find her rhythm and find her spacing.
00:24:40 You can imagine how nervous she would be out here paddling in front of this big crowd and having so much at stake.
00:24:48 So far, nice and clean.
00:24:51 The top two paddlers are both sitting in the stands, sitting in one and two position without penalties.
00:24:57 Very, very silky there.
00:24:59 Emma Vuitton, 19 years of age, still got so many great opportunities ahead of her, but she doesn't want to wait around for future opportunities.
00:25:07 She wants to make the most of this one, and she would love dearly, I'm sure, to be able to...
00:25:13 Ooh!
00:25:14 Oh, it's done.
00:25:16 It picked up a touch somewhere there, Ross. I didn't see that.
00:25:19 They will review it. So they have a bank of cameras. They have somebody there standing on the edge with just...
00:25:27 Oh, there's a big touch there.
00:25:29 You can see there in the move, jumpers there. They are your judges.
00:25:35 He just signalled there clean, the horizontal sweep of the arm is... that means clean.
00:25:39 But then there's also cameras covering... Oh, she's lost a lot of time here, Brodie.
00:25:44 Oh, no.
00:25:45 And a touch as well.
00:25:46 Just falling apart at the bottom here.
00:25:48 Oh, for Emma Vuitton, I don't think she's going to go... she's going to go outside her team-mate as well.
00:25:53 So what does all that mean?
00:25:55 Pretty sure the French...
00:25:57 I think, judging by that... Sorry, Brodie.
00:25:59 No, you're right. Yeah, I think the selection from the French is they're going to look at the whole season as a whole and pick from that.
00:26:05 There's a bit of discretion, but yeah, so...
00:26:08 All your results from this year, and maybe last year too.
00:26:12 But judging, look at that.
00:26:14 Oh, now it hurts.
00:26:15 You feel for Emma Vuitton, there's some tears there. It's tough.
00:26:19 It's tough. There is so much at stake, folks.
00:26:22 It is high-hand poker, high-stakes poker being played here in France.
00:26:30 And judging by the reaction of Emma Vuitton, that's not the result that she needed.
00:26:36 Because she's finished below her team-mate, Camille Prigent.
00:26:40 And if it's as simple as that, well, that's going to make it tough.
00:26:44 But she was going well, OK, at the top of the course, Brodie.
00:26:47 She was. This is Gate 11.
00:26:49 Oh, there's the touch. So small.
00:26:51 That was the first blemish of the run, and then it sort of fell apart from there.
00:26:56 So, for the 2,000 schoolchildren watching, don't bash up your boat.
00:27:00 That's no good.
00:27:02 It's not your boat's fault.
00:27:03 There we are, folks. There's Ground Control.
00:27:04 Exclusive pictures for you, coming to you from Ground Control.
00:27:08 Look at them there, eagle eyes there.
00:27:10 They're checking every angle, making sure everything works.
00:27:13 Making sure that all the calls are correct.
00:27:17 Eva Terschel, finally we get to see her doing what she does best,
00:27:22 paddling big races in big finals.
00:27:24 She's the world champion from 2019.
00:27:26 She had such a disappointing world championships in Lee Valley.
00:27:29 But here she is, Brodie, paddling for gold in Paris.
00:27:33 Yeah, off to a cracking start at that-- right on that split of Karina Kounle.
00:27:38 And let's see how she handles this first technical move, the spin across the wave.
00:27:44 Pretty okay.
00:27:46 She's had such-- since that world championship, it's all sort of fallen apart a bit for her.
00:27:52 She had a disappointing Tokyo Olympics, and then since then she's really struggled to get back up
00:27:57 to the top of the game, to her world championship-winning abilities.
00:28:02 But maybe today she had a really good semifinal.
00:28:07 There you go. She's pulled it off.
00:28:08 An S move. That was nice, yeah.
00:28:10 She's pulled off the S move. Good on you, Eva Terschel.
00:28:12 Now can you hold it together for the bottom part?
00:28:15 Oh, no.
00:28:17 That's a big touch there for Terschel, so a definite two seconds.
00:28:22 So many tough moves in this course.
00:28:24 Just go from one to the next, and you've just got to be so focused,
00:28:27 and the plan's got to be so good.
00:28:29 That gate 12, Brodie, that-- oh, no.
00:28:31 There's a 50.
00:28:33 There's a 50, and she knows it.
00:28:36 You could see there that look of resignation when it went the wrong side of her head,
00:28:41 and she knew then that that was it.
00:28:43 Her race is over.
00:28:46 Disappointing.
00:28:47 They'll go back and check it, but I think, Brodie, not much doubt about that.
00:28:50 That was a 50.
00:28:52 Yeah, I think that one was pretty clear, but stranger things have happened.
00:28:56 Stranger things have happened.
00:28:57 Best if we don't call it.
00:28:59 Yeah.
00:29:01 So, Brodie's walking around with a bodyguard actually here
00:29:05 because in Lee Valley he made a controversial call about the Irish team selection,
00:29:11 and since then the Irish have been out to get him.
00:29:15 Yeah, very careful.
00:29:17 We've got a large audience on here.
00:29:19 We do, and they're hanging off every word,
00:29:21 and they're writing stuff down here that they're going to use,
00:29:23 they're going to quote later on to sound learned.
00:29:26 Can I just say to you folks, buyer beware.
00:29:30 All right, here we go.
00:29:31 This is where the problem was.
00:29:32 This was the 50, I can see.
00:29:34 So she has to go through the gate.
00:29:35 You can see there she hasn't gone through it.
00:29:37 It's gone the wrong side of the bonce, wrong side of the noggin.
00:29:40 Yeah, it's getting tangled in the arms a bit, wasn't it?
00:29:42 Yeah, yep, and at that stage she still could have gone back and had another crack at it,
00:29:47 but chose not to, and unfortunately for Eva Tershaw, that will be a 50.
00:29:54 And her race is over.
00:29:56 Wow, we've got four athletes to go.
00:29:59 Karina Kornmay is still sitting there on top of the leaderboard.
00:30:04 Now, Kimberly Woods had such a great world championships,
00:30:10 but it feels funny to say this.
00:30:12 She had such a great world championships but didn't earn a quota for her team.
00:30:16 Other people did that, so it's really made it tricky for her to get on the Olympic team.
00:30:21 She is the only paddler from Great Britain, though, in this race.
00:30:25 I reckon if ever she wanted to finish on a podium, Brodie Crawford today is the day.
00:30:29 Yeah, for sure.
00:30:31 Like I said earlier, I'm pretty sure the Brits are doing a similar thing as the French
00:30:35 and looking at the whole season, so a win here would do a lot, I think, for her.
00:30:40 I think, yeah, they've all written into their selection process that there can be some wriggle room,
00:30:46 that it can be left to selectors' discretion, which I always think is problematic,
00:30:51 and you're leaving yourself open for all sorts of problems.
00:30:55 Yeah, it's becoming more common, though, which is interesting.
00:31:00 She's going quite nicely here, a touch on gate one.
00:31:03 Oh, another touch there for Kimberly.
00:31:05 Okay, now you've got to really get things right, Kimberly Woods.
00:31:08 You've got to make sure it's perfect.
00:31:10 Yeah, time to drop the hammer and go, take the risks.
00:31:12 Yep.
00:31:13 Going the direct here, that's good.
00:31:15 Very nice through there.
00:31:17 A nice combination here for Kimberly Woods and Team GB.
00:31:23 So the one bright spot for her by missing out on winning a quota is that she gets the--
00:31:28 she's okay to go to Prague next year to try and earn a kite cross.
00:31:31 Yeah, far out.
00:31:32 You'd have to give her a good chance of that, wouldn't you, Rob?
00:31:35 Well, she is the world champion.
00:31:36 Oh, and there's another touch there, Kimberly.
00:31:38 Come on.
00:31:39 Let's finish strongly.
00:31:40 Don't drop the baton here.
00:31:43 Let's keep pushing to the finish line.
00:31:47 She's not--
00:31:48 Nice finish from the upstream.
00:31:49 You can see already, I can tell by the body language, she's disappointed.
00:31:53 Yeah, you've got to be happy with that paddle.
00:31:55 And there goes the paddle.
00:31:56 Paddle's gone.
00:31:59 Well, this is high-stakes poker, isn't it, Brodie?
00:32:04 It is, yeah.
00:32:07 It's heartbreaking at times.
00:32:09 You can see she would have loved to have caught on the podium because that would really put some pressure on the selectors.
00:32:15 But she's made the final and nobody else has from Team GB, and that's got to be a positive for her.
00:32:21 I think Kim Woods is another one I might need a bodyguard for.
00:32:23 She's come at me a few times for some of the stuff I've said in kite cross, so I'm a little scared of Kim right now.
00:32:30 Lucky you're in here, mate.
00:32:31 We've got good protection in here in the central commentary position.
00:32:35 But I love her paddling.
00:32:37 Always good.
00:32:38 I love watching Kim Lee.
00:32:39 And you know what, Brodie?
00:32:41 She's the only person here at the whole venue who's complimented me on the haircut I've had since Lee Bentley.
00:32:49 I actually did notice it when I walked in, but you were calling the women, so I couldn't talk to you.
00:32:53 I thought, "Damn, that man's looking fine."
00:32:56 He's taken years off his age with that haircut.
00:32:59 She's the only person here who's come up to me and said, "I see you've had a haircut. Can you get your money back?"
00:33:05 She said. She's a bit harsh.
00:33:08 But anyway, luckily we don't have a camera in here.
00:33:12 Monica Doria Villarubla, now we are down to the final three.
00:33:16 In a moment, we're going to know who's got a medal.
00:33:19 And Monica Doria Villarubla has had a pretty good season.
00:33:23 She's had a ripper, hasn't she?
00:33:25 Almost a breakout season, you could say.
00:33:27 She's been on almost in every final.
00:33:29 She's been ultra consistent in the C1 and the K1 this year.
00:33:34 What a great finish it would be for her if she could get up there on the podium at this World Cup final.
00:33:40 Very tall paddler.
00:33:43 And really has, as Brodie said, this has been a great season for her.
00:33:46 She's really put her name up in lights for Andorra.
00:33:51 So she would have that ticket locked away, I'm sure, already for Paris.
00:33:56 Yeah, you'd think so.
00:33:57 She's had a pretty solid start, a little down in the first split.
00:34:00 But as we've seen, it's all to play for from here, here down, pretty much in the course.
00:34:04 Mistakes are happening.
00:34:07 So this is our third last paddler.
00:34:09 Next paddler on the course will be Jessica Fox.
00:34:11 And then the final paddler will be the New Zealander, Luca Jones, who had an unbelievable semifinal.
00:34:18 Just picking up the touch there.
00:34:20 I thought she'd nailed that move, but a little touch on third A.
00:34:23 She's going to need to really find some time here now.
00:34:26 Tell you what, the judges are on their A game, aren't they?
00:34:28 I think they've all had an early night, and they've had a couple of coffees this morning,
00:34:31 because they are picking up everything.
00:34:33 Yeah, it's been good.
00:34:34 It's been very consistent.
00:34:36 Oh, did they see that one?
00:34:37 They did.
00:34:39 It's going to be tough from here now.
00:34:40 Two touches for Doria Villarubla, and the fastest time on the course is a 1.02.37.
00:34:45 She's not going to go under that.
00:34:48 Is she going to challenge, though, for a top three?
00:34:50 No, I don't think so.
00:34:51 Unfortunately for Monica Doria Villarubla, no podium today for the paddler from Andorra.
00:34:57 But what it does mean that Corrina Kounle, after quite an absence,
00:35:03 and look at Claudia Zulinska there.
00:35:07 She doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
00:35:08 She's not sure yet.
00:35:09 She's not sure yet.
00:35:11 So Corrina has a medal, is that correct?
00:35:13 She has a medal.
00:35:14 She has at least a bronze.
00:35:15 Corrina Kounle has a medal.
00:35:16 And what we can also safely say is that Claudia Zulinska,
00:35:21 who currently sits in third position on the overall standings and second today,
00:35:28 and Eleanor Lilich, who is currently second.
00:35:31 Gee, it's going to be tight between those two.
00:35:32 I think Lilich will be just ahead of Zulinska on the overall standings.
00:35:37 Wow.
00:35:38 So at this point, before Jess Fox runs, Lilich is winning.
00:35:41 Lilich is the overall World Cup champion.
00:35:44 Yep.
00:35:46 And going into this race, Fox was only three points ahead of Lilich.
00:35:50 So Fox needs to finish ahead of Lilich at least, and Lilich is currently sitting third.
00:35:56 Wow.
00:35:57 Jess Fox, who put us all through a roller coaster in the semifinal,
00:36:00 she finished to run fastest, then they gave her a two-second penalty,
00:36:04 which dropped her down to second.
00:36:05 Then they gave her a 50-second penalty, which dropped her out of the final.
00:36:09 Then they changed that 50-second penalty to a two-second penalty.
00:36:13 It was a bit of a slide.
00:36:14 It was crazy, yeah.
00:36:15 It was crazy stuff.
00:36:16 But what it told us is that Jess Fox has some time she can make up in this final.
00:36:23 She had some pace in that semifinal.
00:36:25 I think she's going to go one better here, Ross.
00:36:28 We'll see.
00:36:29 She looks pretty determined.
00:36:31 She won the world championship last week, two weeks ago, in Lee Valley, so she's in good form.
00:36:36 It's a nice start.
00:36:37 Let's have a look at this split.
00:36:38 She's got a second already.
00:36:39 Yep.
00:36:40 So Jess Fox, will she take some risks, or is she going to play it safe here?
00:36:45 Listen to the crowd.
00:36:48 They are really-- ooh, the crowd.
00:36:50 I think the French crowd have sort of adopted Jess as one of their own.
00:36:53 She is half French, so they have every right to claim part ownership of her.
00:36:59 Yep, she's got some strong French heritage, but make no mistake, she is an Aussie.
00:37:06 Absolutely.
00:37:07 Absolutely.
00:37:08 Proud Aussie.
00:37:09 And I know that Australians will be sitting up late at home now watching Jess Fox paddling
00:37:14 for gold.
00:37:16 So good there, Ross.
00:37:17 This is very nice so far.
00:37:19 Taking the risks, but just nailing them.
00:37:22 She's going to go pretty close to a sub-100 if she stays on this form, no doubt about that.
00:37:27 Jess Fox from Australia.
00:37:29 She's paddling not just for World Cup glory here, but she's paddling also-- oh, look at that.
00:37:33 More than two seconds up.
00:37:35 What a move.
00:37:36 Oh, that's good there.
00:37:37 Wow.
00:37:38 Last move.
00:37:39 Here we go.
00:37:40 Can she do it?
00:37:41 She is going to smash this time.
00:37:42 Oh, Ross, that was so good.
00:37:44 She's going to go well under 100.
00:37:46 Have a look at this, folks.
00:37:47 Sit up and take notice.
00:37:48 This is a World Champion.
00:37:50 This is your World Cup Champion.
00:37:52 Wow.
00:37:53 Bang, Ross.
00:37:54 What a run.
00:37:56 That's one way to take the overall World Cup Championship.
00:37:59 Oh, my goodness.
00:38:00 Yep.
00:38:01 The World Cup Champion title is hers.
00:38:04 No matter what happens, Luca Jones can't change that.
00:38:06 Look at that.
00:38:07 Mum's happy.
00:38:08 Mum's lost for words.
00:38:09 And let me tell you, when Miriam Fox has got no words, it's a good day for everybody.
00:38:14 Some rare tears for Miriam Fox.
00:38:16 Wow.
00:38:17 Wow.
00:38:18 That is pretty incredible stuff.
00:38:20 Awesome.
00:38:21 What a way to cut the season, Jess.
00:38:23 Congratulations.
00:38:24 Awesome stuff.
00:38:25 If you're sitting at home in Australia, I hope you can go and pour yourself a stiff one right
00:38:30 now, because Jess Fox has done you proud, folks.
00:38:35 You shouldn't get too excited.
00:38:36 She hasn't got the gold medal yet.
00:38:38 Yeah, that's a good point.
00:38:39 Because Luca Jones did a very good semi-final.
00:38:42 This party could be upset.
00:38:44 Well, no matter what happens, though, Jess is your World Cup Champion for 2023.
00:38:50 Yeah, that's correct.
00:38:51 You can safely say that.
00:38:52 They put an asterisk.
00:38:55 Oh, God, don't tell me.
00:38:57 They put an asterisk next to it.
00:38:59 Oh, there you go.
00:39:00 There is a touch.
00:39:02 I reckon that's a touch.
00:39:03 It's not going to matter.
00:39:05 Goodness me.
00:39:06 That opens it up, though.
00:39:07 If that goes on-- oh, and it's on.
00:39:09 It's on.
00:39:10 Yeah, we just both saw it.
00:39:11 Gate six.
00:39:12 Well done to our camera operators.
00:39:13 They picked it up there just a slight--
00:39:14 Jeez, that was just-- there was nothing in that touch.
00:39:17 That's unbelievable.
00:39:18 The technology we have to catch these things now is pretty amazing.
00:39:21 Brody, I think you've called it right.
00:39:23 That has opened the door for Luca Jones.
00:39:25 She went sub 100--
00:39:27 It's on, yeah.
00:39:28 --in the raw time in the semi-final.
00:39:30 So she could upset the apple cart here.
00:39:32 Can she dry up Miriam Fox's tears?
00:39:34 No.
00:39:36 Yeah, so good luck on that one.
00:39:39 Luca, they call her.
00:39:40 My name is Luca, they say.
00:39:41 And off she goes, as Brody said, another athlete who had so much of a struggle
00:39:46 with COVID, had so much time out of the water,
00:39:49 just could not get out of bed some days,
00:39:52 and really was wondering what her future was as an elite athlete.
00:39:56 But here she is, setting a fast time in the semi-finals,
00:40:00 and going for gold, Brody Crawford.
00:40:02 A little held up in gate 7 or 8, I think it was.
00:40:05 I think she's going to be down a bit on this next split.
00:40:08 Ooh, that's good, Brody.
00:40:09 She's got some work to do here.
00:40:11 That was very nice through 10.
00:40:13 What's the split saying?
00:40:14 Two and a half.
00:40:16 Well, she's in the mix--
00:40:17 Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:40:20 What's the judges going to say?
00:40:22 I think that was okay.
00:40:23 Do you?
00:40:24 Yeah, she did well to save it because she was late to that move.
00:40:26 Hadn't set up quite enough.
00:40:29 Tell you what,
00:40:30 we're going to have to have a very close look at all the angles from that, though.
00:40:33 She really cut the line there.
00:40:37 Was it too tight, or did she just sneak in?
00:40:39 Remember, she's got to get the whole head and part of the boat between the gates.
00:40:44 Going to find 1.8.
00:40:45 Jess was so good at the bottom here, and that's low.
00:40:48 Where will she finish, though?
00:40:50 I think she's going to finish--
00:40:52 She's going to be close to a medal, I think maybe just outside.
00:40:56 Yeah, oh, no.
00:40:58 Fifth for Luca Jones.
00:41:01 Fifth for Luca Jones, so let's have a look.
00:41:05 Confirmation now of our medalist.
00:41:07 Jessica Fox takes the gold and the world championship.
00:41:11 Let's have a look at this here.
00:41:12 You reckon, Brodie, she's safe?
00:41:13 Let's have a look.
00:41:14 I think so.
00:41:15 Oh, actually, I'm not so sure now, Ross.
00:41:17 Oh, yeah.
00:41:19 Is it under review?
00:41:20 It is.
00:41:21 It is under review.
00:41:22 They're having a look.
00:41:23 Let's have a look at a different angle.
00:41:25 Boop, boop, boop, boop.
00:41:27 The whole head, folks, has to go--
00:41:29 Oh.
00:41:32 I don't know.
00:41:33 What do you think at home, folks?
00:41:35 I think she might be in trouble.
00:41:36 I think she might be.
00:41:37 I think she might be in trouble.
00:41:39 The whole of the head has to go between the gates,
00:41:41 and I suspect that the judges are going to suggest that maybe an earlobe
00:41:47 and maybe a cheekbone did not go between the poles.
00:41:53 It's not going to matter because--
00:41:55 well, it's going to matter for her, but it's not going to matter in terms of the top three
00:42:00 because we can confirm that Jessica Fox not only has won the World Cup gold here,
00:42:05 but she is also our World Cup champion for this season.
00:42:09 That's her third World Cup--oh, the penalty removed.
00:42:12 What do we know?
00:42:13 What do we know?
00:42:14 Well, they've got all the angles in there, so--
00:42:17 They've got the angle of the dangle.
00:42:18 And they've got 100 cameras looking at that thing, so they know best.
00:42:22 That was very, very tight.
00:42:24 Very tight indeed.
00:42:26 But Jessica Fox, gold medalist, Korina Kunle, silver medalist,
00:42:30 Claudia Zolinska on the podium again.
00:42:32 What a fantastic podium that is, one, two, and three.
00:42:36 Let's have a listen to our world champion, Jessica Fox.
00:42:40 I'm here with Jess Fox, winner of the women's kayak final.
00:42:43 What an incredible, sensational win to end off your season.
00:42:46 Tell us how it feels.
00:42:47 Thank you.
00:42:48 Yeah, amazing to be racing on the Paris Olympic course for this World Cup.
00:42:53 The final World Cup of the year, so great feelings and so thrilled to take the win.
00:42:58 Less than one year to go until Paris 2024.
00:43:01 There's over 1,000 kids cheering you on.
00:43:03 Can you give them a little bit of a word in French?
00:43:06 [speaking French]
00:43:14 Thank you to all the kids.
00:43:15 It was really amazing to race out there.
00:43:20 And Brody's here, luckily fluent in French.
00:43:22 She can tell me what she said to the French kids.
00:43:25 Basically, she said, "Thank you all for coming.
00:43:28 It meant so much to me for you to be out here cheering me on."
00:43:31 And she's such a talent, isn't she?
00:43:33 She speaks about three languages, four languages maybe on a bad day.
00:43:37 Jess Fox.
00:43:39 But I tell you what, Brody, she's in some pretty good form.
00:43:42 I know it's still less than 12 months to the Olympics,
00:43:45 but she'd be feeling pretty good about herself going into Olympic year.
00:43:49 Yeah, definitely.
00:43:50 And that kayak gold medal still eludes her,
00:43:54 so she'll be hungry for that Olympic gold in the kayak, yeah.
00:43:59 It's the big one.
00:44:00 It's the big one.
00:44:01 It's the only one she doesn't have in her locker at the moment,
00:44:04 so that's what's going to be her focus.
00:44:06 But she will go into it next year as the reigning world champion
00:44:09 and also as the reigning World Cup champion as well,
00:44:14 because today's win has confirmed that she will finish on top of the leaderboard
00:44:19 for 2023 without having it officially confirmed.
00:44:23 I believe that Elena Lilic will hold on for the second position,
00:44:28 and it should be Klaudia Zolinska from Poland who will finish third,
00:44:34 but we'll need to wait for official confirmation.
00:44:39 So that is your confirmation of your results today, though.
00:44:43 Fox first, Kunle second, and Zolinska third.
00:44:47 Gee, Fox and Kunle, they've done some racing together over the years, haven't they?
00:44:50 They sure have.
00:44:51 And great from Zolinska.
00:44:53 Came down early.
00:44:54 Great run.
00:44:55 Put the pressure on everyone and get the medal for her efforts.
00:44:58 Just looking at Jess Fox's raw time, Brodie, take off the two-second penalty,
00:45:02 she's at 98, so twice she's gone under the 100 today.
00:45:07 Impressive, hey?
00:45:08 Which is pretty impressive.
00:45:09 Yeah, that was a very, very good run.
00:45:12 Very nice to watch.
00:45:13 Silky stuff out there.
00:45:15 Of the rest, so of the two French paddlers, Camille Prusent finished fifth
00:45:20 and Emma Vuitton ninth.
00:45:21 What will that mean in the overall qualification for the French team?
00:45:26 I don't know, but I'm sure Camille Prusent would rather be fifth than ninth.
00:45:31 But that's for the French selectors.
00:45:32 Right, let's turn our attention, Brodie, we'll talk to Miquel Trave about the men's C1.
00:45:38 Hello, I'm Miquel Trave, Spanish paddler.
00:45:40 I'm K1 C1, 23 years old,
00:45:43 and I hope next year I will be here in the Olympics.
00:45:46 About the C1, I enjoy it a lot since I was a kid.
00:45:51 So for me, going to the Olympics would mean a lot.
00:45:54 It was a dream since I was a kid,
00:45:55 but the first big option that I had, it was in 2019 in the world's.
00:45:59 It couldn't happen.
00:46:01 There was André Lossegui four times finalist in the Olympic Games,
00:46:05 so it was a tough race.
00:46:07 The Olympic spot is not decided in Spain yet,
00:46:11 so we'll need to do selections next March.
00:46:13 Let's see if I can get the spot.
00:46:15 I will try my best and hopefully I will be here for the next Olympics.
00:46:18 Such an exciting young talent, Brodie Miquel Trave,
00:46:24 does the C1 and the K1.
00:46:26 And I'm looking forward to seeing him in this final.
00:46:29 Yeah, he has been good for a long time,
00:46:33 dominated juniors and under-23s.
00:46:35 And I think between him and Nico Geston,
00:46:38 there are the two to watch.
00:46:40 Two young guys, their potential is unknown.
00:46:44 So we're looking here at the final field for this final.
00:46:51 And interestingly, on the overall World Cup standings,
00:46:55 Matej Banouche is leading.
00:46:57 He's got quite a comfortable lead of around 14 points.
00:47:01 I say comfortable, but in the World Cup it means nothing,
00:47:04 because it's double points.
00:47:06 Banouche first, Bozic second, Savcek third,
00:47:09 Burgess fourth, Ogaldy, Krišković sixth.
00:47:12 They're all here, they're all in this race.
00:47:14 So it's wide open.
00:47:16 But here we have Aleksandr Slivkoski.
00:47:19 I mentioned it in the semifinal, I'll say it again.
00:47:21 Is this the last time that we see this grand old man of paddling?
00:47:27 And I say old man advisedly, he's 40 years of age,
00:47:29 he's not old at all, but he's been around for so long.
00:47:32 Is this the final hurrah for Aleksandr Slivkoski?
00:47:36 He's been a wonderful, wonderful ambassador for the sport,
00:47:39 been so consistent for so many years.
00:47:42 I've said it before, I'll say it again.
00:47:43 It is a great tragedy that he's never been to an Olympics,
00:47:46 but that gives you some idea how strong Slovakian canoe paddling is.
00:47:51 Here he is today.
00:47:52 He would love to finish Brody without a podium, wouldn't he?
00:47:54 Yeah, wouldn't that be a fairy tale ending to the season?
00:47:56 And I'll tell you what, Ross, this run is on it right now.
00:47:59 Everything's been really nice so far.
00:48:01 So I'm looking forward to seeing this next split.
00:48:04 So Benjamin Savcic did a 96.02 in the semifinal.
00:48:10 So that's the time that you want to have a look at here
00:48:13 and keep that in mind, a 96.02 from Savcic in the semifinal.
00:48:18 Definitely you would need to go under 100 here to have any show at all
00:48:22 of finishing on the podium, and well under 100 probably.
00:48:26 Oh, that was putting together such a good run.
00:48:30 A bit of a blemish there with the two-second penalty.
00:48:33 He needs to nail this last upstream.
00:48:36 So he really, I'm sure in the back of his mind, he's thinking,
00:48:39 "This is it. This is my farewell.
00:48:41 Let me do something very special for the fans."
00:48:45 Can he go under 100? I think he's going to go well under 100.
00:48:48 So a good first run here for Alexander Slavkoski.
00:48:51 It's a 96 without that touch.
00:48:53 Wow, that would be a very special time.
00:48:56 Is it going to be enough?
00:48:58 I think the romantics amongst us, and I need to say this,
00:49:01 and I'm not embarrassed to say it, Brodie and I are both romantics,
00:49:04 and everyone knows it.
00:49:06 We often talk about our romantic bent.
00:49:09 The romantics amongst us would love to see Alexander Slavkoski finish with a medal.
00:49:14 Yes, it would be nice, wouldn't it?
00:49:16 It's been a tough season for him.
00:49:19 Seen some uncharacteristic racing from him, a few people,
00:49:23 and not his usual self, but that was vintage.
00:49:26 That was such a nice run.
00:49:28 I think after Tokyo, he had made his mind up that that was it.
00:49:32 That was going to be it.
00:49:35 But then as Paris got closer and closer, he was still feeling good.
00:49:40 He felt like he had something to offer.
00:49:43 He just wanted one more crack at it.
00:49:45 I think the delayed Olympics helped a few people with that jump.
00:49:49 It was only three years instead of four.
00:49:51 It was just a little bit closer and a bit more enticing.
00:49:55 Yes.
00:49:57 I feel a bit emotional now if that was the last time we see Alexander Slavkoski on the water.
00:50:03 But who knows?
00:50:05 Who knows what could happen?
00:50:08 Because now Timo Trommer is about to head off.
00:50:12 Maybe he's the one surprise packet in this final, Brodie.
00:50:16 He's the one man that you probably would not have predicted to make the final.
00:50:20 Yes, probably wouldn't have predicted him to be in the final, but I'm also not surprised.
00:50:24 He's on the German team, which is a very strong team.
00:50:28 He can put together some fast performances.
00:50:32 He is here, but his teammate, Sideris Tassiatis, the world champion, is not here.
00:50:39 I believe having spoken to a few, that this is not really part of the German selections here.
00:50:46 They have national selections, so this doesn't really affect their overall.
00:50:52 But still, when you go down and look at the overall performances, which I'm sure we'll figure in it,
00:50:57 if you finish on a podium here, that will help your cause, surely.
00:51:01 Yes, it's got to be better than not finishing on one, doesn't it?
00:51:03 Yes.
00:51:05 So, a good run so far. Just that little touch on gate six for Trommer.
00:51:09 Yes, Slavkoski was just so good through all that top section.
00:51:13 He was just falling back a little bit on his time, but he did get a touch on the bottom.
00:51:18 Yes, Slavkoski's touch came on gate 16.
00:51:22 So, he has a bit of room, Trommer, to make up for it.
00:51:27 Oh, that's late there.
00:51:29 Oh, he's missed it. He's missed that.
00:51:32 The whole of his head did not go through that gate.
00:51:35 Timo Trommer.
00:51:37 Sorry to tear you this, bro, but have a close look at it.
00:51:41 He did scrape the...
00:51:43 I think he's in trouble on that one. I think that's pretty...
00:51:46 And there's another touch there as well, so...
00:51:49 Unfortunately for Trommer, even without the 50, he's not going to be in the mix.
00:51:55 And he gives himself a bang on the bonce, the same bonce that hit the gate.
00:52:01 But it didn't go fully through the gate.
00:52:03 Good to see him still smiling.
00:52:04 He's still smiling, yes.
00:52:06 It's been a big day out in front of 2,000 spookies.
00:52:09 Let's have a look here. Brodie is gone.
00:52:11 The boat's gone through, no problems there, but let's have a look.
00:52:15 No, not even close.
00:52:18 Not even close. None of the head went through.
00:52:20 No.
00:52:22 None of the head went through, so...
00:52:25 I could do that job for you, judges.
00:52:27 Let's put it up there now, 50 seconds.
00:52:29 Boom. Just needed a bit more of that shoulder through.
00:52:31 He probably could have shrugged it around, but didn't quite get there.
00:52:34 Yeah.
00:52:36 Yep, so 50 second confirmed.
00:52:38 Seen a few paddlers struggling on that move, haven't we?
00:52:40 Just falling low and missing that wave.
00:52:43 You've got to surf the wave to get the next gate.
00:52:45 It's a high-risk gate, isn't it? You can take the risk.
00:52:47 Yep.
00:52:49 Ooh, this man.
00:52:50 Surely he couldn't finish the season off on a podium, could he?
00:52:53 He started the year off on a podium at his first ever World Cup in a canoe.
00:52:58 He finished on the podium.
00:53:01 I mean, you wouldn't discount him, would you?
00:53:02 No.
00:53:03 You would not discount him.
00:53:04 No, you wouldn't. He knows what he could do.
00:53:06 He could do something spectacular.
00:53:08 I think he'll throw it all down the line.
00:53:11 He's got nothing to lose.
00:53:12 Yeah.
00:53:13 Nothing to lose. He's the only Czech in the final.
00:53:16 He's already got the K1 Olympic spot locked away.
00:53:21 I don't know what the overall situation is with the C1 qualifying.
00:53:26 I'm sure, though, that he's thinking today,
00:53:28 "I'm just going to throw everything out there, and if I get on the podium,
00:53:32 let them try and take that Olympic spot off me."
00:53:35 Yeah, that's it. He'll just be looking to just--
00:53:38 He's probably a bit behind if you look at the season.
00:53:40 Even though he does have a medal, it's hard to say.
00:53:42 Yeah.
00:53:43 Yeah, it won't hurt to throw down a result here.
00:53:47 A little conservative probably so far at the top.
00:53:50 Whoa, and tight there.
00:53:53 I think that was okay, though.
00:53:54 I think it was okay.
00:53:55 I can't see what the judges think, but he needs to start picking up now,
00:53:58 taking a few more risks, doing eerie things.
00:54:02 Well, he's the one man who can do it.
00:54:04 He's got so much strength.
00:54:06 There's not much of him, but my goodness, he packs a punch.
00:54:10 Yuri Prishkevich for check.
00:54:12 Ooh, yeah, that's okay. Everything's good.
00:54:16 Nice combination there.
00:54:17 So he's got the boat moving now.
00:54:20 Yeah, he's negotiated that move very well,
00:54:22 so he's probably made some time up there.
00:54:24 He needs to, though. He's well down on the split.
00:54:26 Yeah.
00:54:28 Oh, that's good there as well.
00:54:29 Yep.
00:54:30 Pull it back a little more.
00:54:31 Slivkoski had his touch around here.
00:54:34 So, ooh, now if he nails this move, which he has.
00:54:37 Pulled back 3.2 in that middle section. Unreal.
00:54:40 So Slivkoski's time is a 98.07.
00:54:43 This is going to be desperately close.
00:54:45 Good finish.
00:54:46 This is going to be close, 98.07.
00:54:48 I think he's going to go under it with a new race leader.
00:54:51 Can you believe it?
00:54:52 97.
00:54:53 What the heck?
00:54:54 Unreal.
00:54:55 What a finish, Ross.
00:54:56 Slivkoski does not look happy.
00:54:58 Plus 4.4 on the middle split.
00:55:00 That is unbelievable.
00:55:01 Slivkoski does not look impressed.
00:55:03 Maybe that, maybe that is the determining factor.
00:55:07 Maybe Slivkoski's one and only chance here was to win gold.
00:55:11 And Yuri Priskinik, this upstart, this Czech upstart,
00:55:14 who's come late to the sport.
00:55:16 Wow.
00:55:17 Surely not, folks.
00:55:18 97.85.
00:55:22 Oh.
00:55:23 It's going to be good to see how this one plays out.
00:55:25 That's right up.
00:55:26 That's giving him a good, red-hot go.
00:55:27 Oh, my goodness.
00:55:28 That gate was so close.
00:55:30 Unbelievable.
00:55:31 Yep.
00:55:33 Oh, it's so, so tight.
00:55:37 What is this man not capable of doing?
00:55:41 Well, one thing, he hasn't nailed a kayak cross yet.
00:55:45 He's not nailed kayak cross, but I don't think he's really tried.
00:55:49 No, he probably hasn't tried yet.
00:55:50 How do we next season?
00:55:51 He's going to come out and he's going to have a red-hot kayak cross,
00:55:54 and then we might as well pack up and go home.
00:55:56 He looks -- what's going on here?
00:55:59 This is a bit of a dream.
00:56:01 Right over.
00:56:03 Adam Burgess from Team GB, and the race is on.
00:56:10 His big closest opponent on Team GB, Ryan Wesley,
00:56:16 for the Olympic selection is not in this final.
00:56:19 He didn't make the final.
00:56:21 So it opens the door for Adam Burgess here to do something a bit special
00:56:24 and really give the selectors no reason to ponder who might go to the Olympics
00:56:32 next year.
00:56:33 Yeah, I think that's what he'll be looking to do.
00:56:35 If he can get himself a medal here, it will be hard to question him.
00:56:40 Yep.
00:56:41 So a good start for Adam Burgess.
00:56:44 A little bit stuck there.
00:56:48 Just down just a little bit on the split, but nothing worth getting too upset about.
00:56:52 It's pretty close at the moment.
00:56:54 Yeah, looking pretty solid.
00:56:56 I think he probably knows that it's all to play for on the bottom section.
00:56:59 So if he can just lay down a solid top half of the race,
00:57:03 then he's got a touch there, Ross.
00:57:05 Was it?
00:57:06 I don't know.
00:57:07 I saw something.
00:57:08 Oh, you did.
00:57:09 Damn.
00:57:10 I am good on that.
00:57:11 You are.
00:57:12 Oh, you're in good form today.
00:57:14 Oh, that's tight.
00:57:15 Gets it done, though.
00:57:16 Saves it.
00:57:17 So a two-second penalty for Adam Burgess is going to make things tricky.
00:57:22 But he was fast yesterday.
00:57:27 And he's -- oh, that was good.
00:57:29 Wow, he moved like a ballerina through there.
00:57:31 That was -- arched the back well, didn't he, far out.
00:57:33 Yep, really smooth.
00:57:34 Needs a good finish here, though, to try and get up amongst the medals.
00:57:39 So can he nail this move here?
00:57:42 Oh, lost some time there, unfortunately, for Adam Burgess.
00:57:45 Yep, this has got to back up a bit.
00:57:47 Yeah, he's going to be outside the medals, I think, unfortunately,
00:57:50 for the man from Team GB.
00:57:52 And he knows it.
00:57:55 No way, he says, I didn't get a touch.
00:57:57 He's arguing.
00:57:58 Uh-oh.
00:57:59 You saw it?
00:58:00 Oh, my God.
00:58:01 It was tiny, but I think I saw it, yeah.
00:58:03 Oh, Brodie Crawford, don't tell me that's another person who's going to be --
00:58:06 He's going to come after me.
00:58:07 -- going to be coming after you.
00:58:08 Let's have a look.
00:58:09 Our TV folk will get us back, and we'll have a look at gate 10.
00:58:14 Because that's where the call was made on gate 10 for Adam Burgess.
00:58:20 He got a slight touch.
00:58:21 Brodie saw it.
00:58:22 Here it is.
00:58:23 Here it is.
00:58:24 Outside pole with the nose here.
00:58:26 Yep, yep, good call, Brodie.
00:58:28 Definitely was there.
00:58:30 Well spotted, mate.
00:58:31 Look at that.
00:58:32 That's a good call.
00:58:34 Well done, sir.
00:58:35 Yeah, that's a very good effort.
00:58:37 Well, Adam Burgess didn't see it.
00:58:39 Yeah, he definitely thought he was clean.
00:58:41 It was very minor, but it was there, unfortunately, for Adam.
00:58:44 Yep.
00:58:45 Even though, I've got to say, Adam, I hate to tell you this,
00:58:47 but even without the touch, you would still only be sitting --
00:58:50 when I say only, you'd be sitting in third spot at the moment.
00:58:54 But, yeah, Adam Burgess.
00:58:58 [Music]
00:59:01 Let's see his reaction.
00:59:03 [Music]
00:59:05 Okay, Marko Murgorodski, the second of the Slovaks.
00:59:10 And it really is a Murgorodski-Banush competition at the moment
00:59:15 for Olympic selection.
00:59:17 Oh, whoa.
00:59:19 That was a radical move there on the first upstream.
00:59:22 I think it wasn't planned, but he got it done.
00:59:24 Yeah, this man would have a lot of pressure on his shoulders right now, Ross.
00:59:27 He really would.
00:59:29 All we know -- we don't know what the thinking overall is and in terms of points,
00:59:33 but we know that Murgorodski, in the first Slovak selection race,
00:59:38 finished ahead of Banush.
00:59:40 Banush finished ahead in the second selection race,
00:59:43 and this is the third selection race.
00:59:45 So you would think that it would just be a simple case of whoever finishes --
00:59:49 that was a spike, wasn't it?
00:59:50 I think so, yeah.
00:59:51 You would think it might just be a simple case of whoever finishes higher
00:59:54 on the leaderboard here.
00:59:55 Yeah, I think it will be, Ross.
00:59:57 So, yeah, this is it, really.
00:59:59 This is a sub-plot, isn't it?
01:00:01 It is.
01:00:02 So far, it's been on the edge, but it's a nice run so far.
01:00:05 The split's looking very healthy.
01:00:07 Ooh, yes.
01:00:08 Far out.
01:00:09 Murgorodski, he is laying down a time to get himself not only a World Cup glory
01:00:15 but a ticket to Paris.
01:00:17 Marco -- ooh, that was a smart move.
01:00:20 Marco Murgorodski, is he on his way to Paris?
01:00:24 Is this the run that will book him a flight to France next year?
01:00:28 Still up on the split.
01:00:30 Needs to finish this.
01:00:31 That's good.
01:00:32 Last up straight.
01:00:33 Everything is coming together nicely.
01:00:36 Marco Murgorodski.
01:00:38 Oh, no.
01:00:42 Oh, this is going to be close.
01:00:44 Oh, there's a 50 on the last gate.
01:00:48 50 or a -- oh, my goodness.
01:00:52 No.
01:00:53 No, Ross, what?
01:00:56 You could not write about that.
01:01:00 Heartbreaking start.
01:01:01 Oh, look at the reaction from the Slovak team.
01:01:04 That is -- Marco Murgorodski, he had it on a flight.
01:01:13 I think he realized how much time he had spent in that last upstream,
01:01:17 and he just rushed out.
01:01:19 Yeah, there was one more gate to go.
01:01:21 One gate to go.
01:01:22 We'll have a look at the replay.
01:01:24 When your Olympic dreams flash before your eyes.
01:01:28 Here it is.
01:01:31 Oh, that was okay.
01:01:32 And he came down to this gate here.
01:01:34 Look at this, folks.
01:01:35 Oh, the heartbreak.
01:01:38 Oh.
01:01:41 It is a 50, isn't it?
01:01:42 Oh, you can see it.
01:01:43 Yeah, the 50 is confirmed.
01:01:47 Oh, no.
01:01:49 That -- I mean, my heart breaks.
01:01:52 The time was -- it's good to fire out.
01:01:56 The time was good.
01:01:58 The time was good.
01:01:59 He's in second position right now, I think.
01:02:01 Oh, no, 30.
01:02:03 Oh, goodness me.
01:02:06 Brodie Crawford, it's -- you feel for him, don't you?
01:02:10 You do, yeah.
01:02:11 It's not over yet because you still have --
01:02:15 he's got to come out and still put a run together.
01:02:19 The sport of highs and lows, Ross.
01:02:21 Oh, my goodness.
01:02:23 My goodness, all right.
01:02:25 Just brutal.
01:02:26 But on to the next paddler, Franz Anton.
01:02:28 Franz Anton, former world champion and a man who's gunning to try and get to the Olympics next year.
01:02:34 Sideris Tasiades, his big opponent, is missing, did not make the final.
01:02:39 Yeah.
01:02:40 Another world champion caliber paddler that hasn't been to a Games.
01:02:43 Yeah.
01:02:44 That's right?
01:02:45 Yeah.
01:02:46 So, I mean, hard to believe.
01:02:47 It is.
01:02:48 And here he is, having a crack here.
01:02:53 Franz Anton, one of the nicest men in world paddling.
01:02:59 Last year, you might remember, before Tokyo, when the Germans somehow missed out on earning a quota at the --
01:03:07 at the world championships, and then they had to go to the European championships to try and earn that quota,
01:03:12 and then there was a real ding-dong battle between Anton and Tasiades for that spot.
01:03:16 Oh, yeah, yeah.
01:03:17 So, so brutal.
01:03:19 Tasiades eventually just getting the nod over Franz Anton.
01:03:23 So --
01:03:24 Jeff, this is fast for us.
01:03:25 This is good.
01:03:26 You know what?
01:03:27 He's racing like a man without a worry in the world.
01:03:29 Look at that time.
01:03:30 Franz Anton from Germany.
01:03:32 Oh, this is really nice.
01:03:33 Vintage Anton.
01:03:35 Yeah.
01:03:37 Look at that.
01:03:38 Oh, this is pretty good.
01:03:40 He's going to be okay.
01:03:41 Oh, he's fast, Ross, and look at that split out of the upstream.
01:03:43 He's really fast.
01:03:44 He's under the hundred.
01:03:45 Is he going to be in the lead?
01:03:46 Yes, he is.
01:03:47 The new race leader, Franz Anton.
01:03:52 What a run.
01:03:53 What a run.
01:03:55 Just on it, start to finish, wasn't he?
01:03:57 Far out.
01:03:58 96.
01:04:00 It's going to be hard to beat.
01:04:01 Well done, you.
01:04:03 Look at that.
01:04:04 He's stoked.
01:04:05 He is stoked.
01:04:06 He's so tired he can't even open his eyes, but that is the run of the day in the men's competition.
01:04:12 Without a shadow of a doubt, Brodie, 96.18.
01:04:15 Yeah, wow.
01:04:16 I'm sure he'll take that, move you into selection for the Olympics next year.
01:04:20 The last win of the season, well, between him and Tassi Artas anyway.
01:04:25 Yep.
01:04:26 That's, I mean, didn't do too much wrong, did he, in that run?
01:04:31 That was very, very good start to finish.
01:04:35 So I'm just looking, Franz Anton isn't in the top ten at the moment for our overall World Cup standings.
01:04:45 Adam Burgess, he's the only one who's been in the water so far of our top ten.
01:04:50 Priskovic is there as well, but Burgess, I suspect, will be close between Burgess and Priskovic at the moment.
01:04:57 But we still have Benuc, Bozic and Savsek to come.
01:05:01 They are our top three in the overall C1 World Cup standings.
01:05:06 But can any of those men beat Franz Anton?
01:05:12 Savsek's time in the semi was a 96.02.
01:05:15 So let's have a listen to Franz Anton, see what he thinks about his prospects.
01:05:21 I'm here with Franz Anton from Germany, currently leading the men's canoe World Cup final in Paris.
01:05:26 Tell us how you felt out there.
01:05:29 It's, now I'm feeling pretty good.
01:05:33 So it's last race of the season and I finally managed to put a run together because all the races before,
01:05:40 I wasn't feeling comfortable with it.
01:05:42 So I'm really happy that it's now working.
01:05:46 Amazing. Well, six boats to go. It was a really solid run.
01:05:50 We'll hope that it stands to get on the podium.
01:05:53 I don't care about the podium right now.
01:05:55 It's just the result for me that it's, that I have a good run and which is, I'm happy about.
01:06:02 Congratulations.
01:06:04 Thanks.
01:06:06 Do you think that's true, Brody?
01:06:08 Do you think, do you think?
01:06:10 We're calling his bluff on that one.
01:06:12 Are we going to call him out on that? Are we going to call him out on that?
01:06:15 He says he doesn't care about the podium. I'm going to call his bluff.
01:06:18 I'm going to go out on a limb and say he cares a little bit.
01:06:21 I am too. I am too.
01:06:23 I'm saying yes, we heard you Franz, but we don't believe you.
01:06:26 Because I reckon if you win a medal here, I don't think you'd be giving it back.
01:06:31 96.18, I reckon that's going to be a podium.
01:06:35 I can't see, I cannot see three paddlers going under 96.
01:06:39 If we, let me say this for you folk at home.
01:06:44 If we see in this final six, three paddlers going under 96.18,
01:06:49 you are going to see one of the great Canoe Slalom finals of all time.
01:06:53 Yeah, it would be, that would be something pretty special.
01:06:56 I mean, there is the calibre of paddler to do it.
01:06:58 When you look, you've got Benuch, Gerstin, Trave, Bozic, Iveldi, Sese.
01:07:03 There is so much quality there.
01:07:06 But can three paddlers go under 96? You're right.
01:07:10 Will this man know what's happened to his team mate just a couple of runs earlier?
01:07:15 Oh yeah, I wonder.
01:07:17 Yeah.
01:07:18 I wonder.
01:07:19 I reckon he would.
01:07:20 Oh, ripping first up.
01:07:22 Is he on the water knowing that all he needs to do is go down the course
01:07:25 without picking up a 50 and he will book his ticket to Paris?
01:07:29 Does he know that?
01:07:30 Is that all it takes?
01:07:32 Because at the moment his other team mate, Alexander Slankovski,
01:07:34 is sitting on the podium.
01:07:36 Does that mean anything?
01:07:37 It's a matter of fact, yeah.
01:07:38 We don't know the safe bet would be to beat both his team mates.
01:07:42 So that would take a good run.
01:07:43 Yeah, if he can get up there and knock off.
01:07:46 Oh, there's a two-second penalty for Benuch straight away.
01:07:50 That's going to make it tricky for him.
01:07:52 It is.
01:07:54 Slankovski out of touch, but mate, his run was so good.
01:07:57 So he'll take something special.
01:07:59 So Matej Benuch not only paddling here for World Cup glory,
01:08:02 but also overall World Cup champion glory,
01:08:06 and also possibly a ticket to Paris next year, his third Olympics.
01:08:12 Which of those three will be most important to him?
01:08:15 A ticket to Paris, I think, would have to be.
01:08:17 Yeah, it would have to be.
01:08:19 But he's picked up another touch on the tricky stagger, 12.13 there.
01:08:24 All right.
01:08:25 So--
01:08:26 Look at this split.
01:08:27 Yep.
01:08:28 So we're going to Slankovski's time.
01:08:31 And that is going to make things a little bit interesting.
01:08:34 I don't know how the selections work.
01:08:37 Oh, just losing his balance a bit there.
01:08:39 Yeah, losing quite a lot of time.
01:08:41 So this is not going to be good enough time for Matej Benuch.
01:08:45 He's going to be slipping into fourth spot behind his team mate.
01:08:54 What does that mean?
01:08:55 Oh, the raw time, though, 96.
01:08:58 Not a good run.
01:09:00 What does that mean, Brodie Crawford?
01:09:03 I don't know.
01:09:04 You don't know.
01:09:05 I'm assuming from what Alexander Slivkoski told me yesterday
01:09:09 that Benuch should be through.
01:09:11 Right, OK.
01:09:12 Because from what Slivkoski told me yesterday,
01:09:14 pretty well his only chance of getting through
01:09:16 was with his two team mates didn't make the final.
01:09:20 And they both made the final.
01:09:23 OK, so we think Matej Benuch is--
01:09:26 We think Benuch might have his ticket to Paris stamped.
01:09:29 If so, congrats.
01:09:30 Yep, Olympics number three for Matej Benuch, potentially.
01:09:38 But his time there, four seconds of penalty.
01:09:41 So his raw time would have been the quickest on the course.
01:09:45 Right up there, yeah.
01:09:46 It would have been by 0.02 of a second.
01:09:50 Wow.
01:09:51 Because he got four seconds in penalties.
01:09:53 His raw time was a 96.16.
01:09:58 Yeah, wow.
01:09:59 All three of those slowbacks were on it, weren't they?
01:10:01 Yeah.
01:10:02 Their raw times, they were going for it.
01:10:04 You could tell they were racing each other.
01:10:06 All right.
01:10:07 The French fans are up and about.
01:10:09 They're excited because this is their man.
01:10:11 And I'll tell you what, he would be the one man who could go into 96
01:10:15 on this course.
01:10:17 Yeah, for sure.
01:10:18 I think if anyone could do it, you're right, it's him.
01:10:20 He looks so smooth here and so fast.
01:10:24 They're in control all the time, Nico Gheston.
01:10:27 Silver medalist at the World Championships in Lee Valley earlier this year.
01:10:31 This is part of their selection process.
01:10:33 I'm pretty certain, talking to a couple of the French team during the break,
01:10:37 that Gheston almost has his ticket booked for Paris.
01:10:41 But I think if he wants to make sure of it, just get up there on the podium.
01:10:45 Guarantee that you are on your way to the Olympics next year.
01:10:49 What a great moment for him.
01:10:50 He'd be soaking this up.
01:10:52 He would.
01:10:53 Soaking up the fans, soaking up the atmosphere.
01:10:57 And look at the crowd.
01:10:58 The kids jumping up and down.
01:10:59 They're excited.
01:11:00 They're super excited to see their man on the water.
01:11:04 Can he bring home a medal?
01:11:06 That home crowd, they would erupt, wouldn't they?
01:11:09 People are telling me out there that it's so hard,
01:11:12 you can hardly hear yourself think.
01:11:13 The noise is so loud.
01:11:15 You can hear it coming through our effects microphone here at the course.
01:11:19 And they've even taken it up a level now, Brodie.
01:11:21 You can really hear them.
01:11:23 He's down a little here, though.
01:11:24 He needs a really good finish.
01:11:26 That was very good through there.
01:11:28 So close.
01:11:29 Two and a half.
01:11:30 Two and a half.
01:11:31 He's got some time to make up.
01:11:33 He does.
01:11:34 Nikola Gheston definitely needs to go under 98.
01:11:39 Oh, no, he's lost too much time there, surely.
01:11:42 He can't be close, Ross.
01:11:45 He's not going to be in the lead.
01:11:47 Could he go into a medal position?
01:11:49 No.
01:11:50 Oh, sneaks into third.
01:11:53 Knocks off Slavkoski by 900th of a second.
01:11:56 And there goes Alexander Slavkoski.
01:11:59 His chances, his dream of a medal at his final World Cup has been dashed
01:12:04 because Nikola Gheston has moved into third position.
01:12:09 He might be a little bit disappointed, though, I suspect.
01:12:12 Yeah, Brodie looked maybe a little conservative through some of the moves
01:12:16 and some of the upstreams, just losing, you know, tenth of a second here
01:12:20 and there, but a very solid run.
01:12:24 Yep.
01:12:25 Is it going to be good enough, though?
01:12:26 I don't think so.
01:12:27 Not when you look at the four paddlers still to come.
01:12:31 I'm tipping that Mikel Trave will produce a run today that we haven't seen
01:12:36 all season from him, and if he does that, then he will definitely be
01:12:41 in the medal prospects.
01:12:43 And then we have Bozic, Ivaldi, and the last man on the course,
01:12:46 Benjamin Savcic, the artist.
01:12:49 Yeah, I'd say no one's safe at the moment.
01:12:54 But a great thrill for the home crowd here to see Nikola Gheston go down
01:12:57 and put together such a good run and to move himself into third position.
01:13:04 Looks like he's going off to do something in the bottle.
01:13:06 Could be, yeah.
01:13:09 Here he is, 23 years of age, Mikel Trave from Spain.
01:13:17 Does the C1, does the K1, but this is his big event.
01:13:20 Whoa, look at that.
01:13:21 He's got some speed, hasn't he?
01:13:23 Look at that, Brodie.
01:13:24 He just skips across the water.
01:13:25 It's crazy.
01:13:26 Nothing seems to slow him down.
01:13:28 Just goes over the way.
01:13:29 Very light and powerful.
01:13:31 I think we're going to see a pretty good split here for Mikel Trave
01:13:34 as he comes down here.
01:13:36 Yes, look at that start.
01:13:39 Now, can he hold it together, though,
01:13:41 because Franz Anton was incredibly consistent all the way through the race.
01:13:47 That's pretty nice through there.
01:13:50 There's no room for any mistakes here for Mikel Trave.
01:13:56 Yeah, it's got to be an excellent run.
01:13:58 Anton was almost flawless,
01:14:01 so it's got to take a few risks if he wants to take that gold medal.
01:14:06 Good run so far, though, for Trave, and he's even managed to increase the gap.
01:14:10 Well done, Mikel Trave.
01:14:12 Hold it together, my friend.
01:14:15 This is smooth.
01:14:18 Two seconds.
01:14:19 Yeah.
01:14:20 Crazy speed.
01:14:21 Now we're getting down.
01:14:22 This is the tricky part of the course right here.
01:14:24 Yep.
01:14:25 That's good.
01:14:27 Trave going well.
01:14:29 Still in front on the split.
01:14:31 Here's the move.
01:14:33 Gets it done.
01:14:34 Maybe losing a little bit of time.
01:14:35 Just a little bit stuck.
01:14:37 Now, can he nail this?
01:14:39 Oh, that's okay, I think.
01:14:41 Didn't lose a lot of time.
01:14:42 So he's going to be very close to the 96.18.
01:14:46 I think he's going to be just inside it, is he?
01:14:48 We've got a new race leader.
01:14:51 Oh, Franz Anton, who doesn't care if he wins a medal.
01:14:55 What a great run.
01:14:56 Wow.
01:14:59 Trave, he's happy.
01:15:01 I'm not sure what that sign--what does that sign mean, Brodie?
01:15:03 I think it's half a love heart.
01:15:05 Half a love heart?
01:15:06 Yeah, like we both did it.
01:15:07 It, like, makes a love heart.
01:15:08 I'm not doing it with you, Mike.
01:15:09 Okay.
01:15:10 I like you a lot, but not that much.
01:15:12 I mean, and even though I said earlier on that we're both romantics.
01:15:16 Wow.
01:15:17 That's hurtful stuff.
01:15:18 Sorry, Franz.
01:15:19 Sorry to leave you hanging there.
01:15:21 A half a love heart for Mikel Trave.
01:15:23 I wonder if he had it finished at the top, whether he would have given us a whole love heart.
01:15:28 But Franz Anton holds on to the lead.
01:15:32 There are three paddlers to go.
01:15:35 And at the moment, well, it is anybody's race.
01:15:40 But when you look at those top two paddlers, Anton and Trave, both of them, 96 seconds.
01:15:45 96 seconds, Mike.
01:15:46 It's fast.
01:15:47 And you can see how quick from those splits Anton was all the way through.
01:15:52 Trave found two seconds on the bottom.
01:15:54 It just wasn't really too bad on the top, but it wasn't too bad on the bottom.
01:15:58 But just lost time to Anton.
01:15:59 He was so good the whole way down.
01:16:01 You're going to suck a love heart, are you?
01:16:02 I'm not sure about that.
01:16:03 You won't do it with me, so you can't prove it.
01:16:05 Okay.
01:16:06 Maybe we're not off-hands.
01:16:08 Luka Bozic now.
01:16:09 He is on the water.
01:16:11 The big man from Slovenia.
01:16:14 Brodie mentioned in their commentary in the semifinal, you would not wish to be--
01:16:19 I mean, fancy having to knock off the world champion and the Olympic champion to get onto the Olympic team.
01:16:25 What a tough ask.
01:16:26 Yes, ridiculous ask, but still be ranked top two, three in the world consistently for years.
01:16:33 It's a brutal game at times.
01:16:36 I asked him yesterday, I said, "How's the new baby going, the baby boy?"
01:16:39 And he said, "Perfect."
01:16:41 Of course, any dad says that, any new dad says that.
01:16:44 But he has no reason to lie to me.
01:16:46 So hello to mum and bub if you're watching at home.
01:16:50 Luka Bozic is your dad, and your partner is on the water trying to make you proud.
01:16:58 He's doing a pretty good job of it so far.
01:17:01 Yes, looking very solid.
01:17:03 Lost a little bit to Anton on the top.
01:17:07 He's going to have to be really good on the bottom, take some risks, find some seconds there.
01:17:13 Anton didn't give too much away on the bottom.
01:17:15 Very smooth through that middle section of the course.
01:17:19 Now this is where you can make up time here, if you're good enough for Luka Bozic.
01:17:27 Pretty good, so it's going to be tight.
01:17:29 He's just outside of there, second and a half out, so that's a lot of time to make up.
01:17:34 That was fast there, 17.18.
01:17:36 Can he make some magic happen here?
01:17:40 Just solid, nothing outstanding.
01:17:42 He's going to be there about, it's going to be very close to a medal winning time.
01:17:47 It's not going to be your fastest time, but he could go into third for Luka Bozic.
01:17:52 Franz Anton has a medal, he doesn't want it, but he's got it.
01:17:56 He doesn't care, he said.
01:17:58 Don't care about a podium, I'm sure.
01:18:01 Does that look like a man who doesn't care?
01:18:04 Bozic has knocked Yuri Priskovich off the podium there.
01:18:08 A great run early from Yuri, but proven not to be enough.
01:18:12 We thought it might be Ross, but it's been some good runs in this final.
01:18:16 They've put an asterisk next to Luka Bozic's name.
01:18:20 I'm not sure which gate they're looking at.
01:18:23 Let's see if we can spot something here on the replay.
01:18:29 All fine there, let's see, was there something here?
01:18:32 Gate 16.
01:18:33 It was tied here.
01:18:36 Did he brush it with his shoulder?
01:18:38 Let's have another look at a different angle.
01:18:41 Oh my goodness.
01:18:43 Would you give that a touch?
01:18:47 I need to see that in super slow motion or something, Ross.
01:18:51 That was ridiculously close.
01:18:53 I can tell you the judges have said no touch.
01:18:56 The judges have given him the benefit of the doubt.
01:18:58 It was so close.
01:18:59 Luckily he didn't have a net sitting on his shoulder when he went through that gate.
01:19:04 If there was a net on his shoulder, the gate would have knocked it off.
01:19:09 So Bozic lives to fight another day.
01:19:12 Rafi Evaldi, the big man who tried to tell us after he won gold in La Salle
01:19:17 that he feels that he doesn't belong in this sort of class of paddling.
01:19:20 Well, yes you do, Rafi Evaldi, and you are paddling for a gold medal today.
01:19:26 Yeah, we saw how good he can be in La Salle.
01:19:29 He's a super, super powerful paddler, a lot of pace when he's on the line.
01:19:34 And, well, great start so far.
01:19:37 Half a second up on Franz Anton.
01:19:39 Yeah, and he's super fast.
01:19:40 Boy, that's a good cross there too, on the top of the wave.
01:19:43 Makes it happen.
01:19:45 Maybe lost the little advantage he got.
01:19:47 He picked up so much time early on, so it's probably evened out now.
01:19:51 It's evened out, yeah.
01:19:53 So now Rafi Evaldi, Franz Anton has a medal.
01:19:57 Mikel Trave sits in second, Luka Bozic sixth, third.
01:20:01 Can Rafi Evaldi upset the apple cart?
01:20:04 Look at this split.
01:20:05 Whoa, look at that.
01:20:06 That's incredible.
01:20:08 Wow, this is good.
01:20:10 Really nice 11, 12, 13 through that crux move.
01:20:14 The man's flying.
01:20:15 Can he hold it together?
01:20:17 What a great back end of the season he's having, Rafi Evaldi.
01:20:20 He's currently sitting in fifth position overall in the overall World Cup standings.
01:20:24 He could be doing his chances of a World Cup.
01:20:26 Goes direct 14, 15, nails it.
01:20:28 17, 18, nails it.
01:20:30 This is it, Ross.
01:20:31 Last move.
01:20:32 Is this our new race leader?
01:20:34 Let's see.
01:20:35 Oh, it's low.
01:20:37 It's very low.
01:20:38 This is close.
01:20:39 It's got to be very close.
01:20:40 How's the sprint to the finish?
01:20:42 It's got to go under the 96.
01:20:43 Can he do it?
01:20:44 It's going to be close.
01:20:45 I think he is.
01:20:46 It's our new race leader.
01:20:47 Wow, 95.
01:20:51 Rafi Evaldi, where did that come from?
01:20:54 Don't you try and tell us you don't belong in this class of paddling, my friend,
01:20:58 because you are up there near the top.
01:21:00 You are up there near the top.
01:21:02 Wow, what a run.
01:21:05 Rafi Evaldi, in fact, you might well be on the top at the end of today.
01:21:08 Look at the emotion.
01:21:10 Look at what that means.
01:21:12 What an incredible back end of the season he's had.
01:21:14 That was a pleasure to watch.
01:21:15 Took all the high-risk moves on and nailed them.
01:21:18 I don't think we've seen anyone sort of do all the directs and fire out.
01:21:23 Do you know what?
01:21:24 This sets up--you would not want a better setup for your current Olympic and world champion
01:21:30 to come down.
01:21:32 Make yourself comfortable at home.
01:21:35 Get in a comfy seat.
01:21:36 Make sure you have nothing, no sharp objects running right near you,
01:21:39 because Benny Sabsek, if he's going to win this gold medal,
01:21:44 we are about to see a race for the times,
01:21:48 because Rafi Evaldi has laid down the gauntlet here with a 95.5.
01:21:55 It's going to be hard to beat.
01:21:57 Even for Benny Sabsek, I think it's going to take his best.
01:22:01 If anyone can do it, it's him, but he's going to need to be on his game.
01:22:05 If he can go under 95.5, he will have done one of the races of our generation.
01:22:13 I'm putting it out there.
01:22:15 95.5 is so fast.
01:22:17 Oh, no.
01:22:19 What are you doing to us?
01:22:21 Benny, I'm trying to build up the--
01:22:23 Oh, come on, man.
01:22:25 What is going on?
01:22:26 I tried to build up the excitement, and look what you've done.
01:22:30 Touches on two and three.
01:22:31 All right.
01:22:32 Very uncharacteristic from Benny there.
01:22:35 Wow.
01:22:36 He's going to have to do some wild paddling from here.
01:22:38 Not even Benny Sabsek could do that, surely.
01:22:41 He could not do a 91 raw.
01:22:43 Not that time.
01:22:44 And look at that.
01:22:45 He's stuck there as well.
01:22:47 Tell you what, this throw is open.
01:22:50 Yeah, how are we looking for the overall world cup?
01:22:52 I think that Luka Bozic might have leapfrogged everybody and might be now--
01:22:57 He was already second.
01:22:58 I reckon he's gone into the lead.
01:23:00 Let's see where Benny Sabsek finishes.
01:23:03 How far back is Hidalgo?
01:23:06 137, and Bozic was a 178, so 50 points behind--
01:23:12 40 points behind, sorry.
01:23:15 Double points.
01:23:16 Could be close.
01:23:17 It's double points.
01:23:18 Mathematicians at home.
01:23:24 Yeah, mathematicians at home, if you've got the answer, just text it through.
01:23:29 I'll give you Brodie's personal mobile number.
01:23:33 Just leave a simple text on who wins, but let's not get ahead of ourselves
01:23:37 because Benny Sabsek--
01:23:39 Yeah, he's well down on the split here.
01:23:41 He's got to win a medal here, I don't think, which might mean that--
01:23:44 Yeah, look at that.
01:23:46 I've got a man at home actually, Declan Ellis.
01:23:48 George Pankhurst, you're watching.
01:23:49 He's a mathematician.
01:23:50 Is he?
01:23:51 Run them numbers for us and send them through.
01:23:53 Crunch those numbers and send them through, my friend,
01:23:55 because it's all a bit hard for me.
01:23:57 But look at that.
01:23:58 Oh, I love that.
01:23:59 Raffaele Valdi.
01:24:01 Tell me there's no emotion there, folks.
01:24:03 Tell me this doesn't mean anything to a bloke, a big, boofy bloke from Italy
01:24:07 shedding a few tears for winning a World Cup gold medal.
01:24:11 I mean, he gets 120 points for this.
01:24:13 That will lift him up to 257.
01:24:19 No, I don't think Valdi can win because--
01:24:24 Bozic is fourth.
01:24:26 What's the incrementation? Is it five points?
01:24:28 Yeah, about that.
01:24:30 So Bozic should still be ahead of--
01:24:32 I think it's Luka Bozic.
01:24:34 Yeah.
01:24:36 I think it's Luka Bozic, but I don't know.
01:24:38 But anyway, that doesn't matter because what is important is that
01:24:40 Raffaele Valdi has won his second gold medal of the season,
01:24:44 and what a great performance it was.
01:24:46 Franz Anton takes the silver.
01:24:48 Mikel Trave takes the bronze.
01:24:51 Great racing.
01:24:52 I think Raffaele's run, that's one of the best runs we've seen this season.
01:24:55 Let's have a listen to our Italian champion, Raffaele Valdi.
01:24:59 Here with Raffaele Valdi from Italy.
01:25:01 You are the World Cup winner of this men's canoe final.
01:25:04 Tell us how that feels for you today.
01:25:06 It's crazy.
01:25:08 Today, I didn't race just for myself.
01:25:12 Today I raced for my mom, for my dad, for my brother, for all my team
01:25:18 because after I failed at the awards, it's just thanks to them.
01:25:22 Today I'm here.
01:25:24 I was wasted and devastated, and they just pushed me,
01:25:29 and they brought me here, and I am nothing without them.
01:25:33 So thank you.
01:25:35 We're also proud of you here, Raffaele,
01:25:37 and to back up another World Cup win after La Seu,
01:25:39 you've had an incredible season.
01:25:41 Anything else you'd like to say for them in Italian
01:25:43 to everyone that's watching back home?
01:25:45 Thank you, everyone.
01:25:47 I wouldn't be here without you.
01:25:49 It was very difficult for the World Cup,
01:25:52 but you all did a great job.
01:25:54 Thank you.
01:25:56 Incredible. Thank you so much.
01:26:00 Ah.
01:26:03 Well, what can we say after that?
01:26:05 That's some raw emotion.
01:26:07 That's some beautiful words there from Nuvaldi about family
01:26:10 and the people we do it for and why we're here,
01:26:12 and how we're here and how we got here.
01:26:15 And, you know, we don't often hear athletes
01:26:19 who are willing to share that emotion with us.
01:26:22 You know, most athletes will keep it to themselves,
01:26:25 you know, the stresses, the strain that goes into being
01:26:29 an international paddler.
01:26:31 And there we had Raffaele Nuvaldi from Italy
01:26:33 just laying it all out on the table,
01:26:35 just no...no qualms at all,
01:26:39 no worries at all about not hiding his tears.
01:26:43 He just wanted to thank everybody who's got him here
01:26:46 and taking us through that journey of what it meant for him
01:26:48 after the disappointment of the World Championships.
01:26:52 And I'm sure there'll be some tissues being handed around
01:26:55 back in Italy right now, Brodie.
01:26:57 There will be, yeah.
01:26:59 I'm sure he's incredibly proud,
01:27:01 and I'm sure they're all incredibly proud of him.
01:27:04 Sounds like he has quite a support network there
01:27:06 that are cheering him on.
01:27:08 We know the Nuvaldi family,
01:27:10 I mean, they are an incredibly strong Canoe Slalom family,
01:27:14 and, you know, they've made such a big...
01:27:17 they've had such a big influence on our sport
01:27:19 for many, many years.
01:27:21 Dad, brother, everybody, you know, Mum,
01:27:23 they've all had their part to play.
01:27:26 But look at those, those raw tears from Raffaele Nuvaldi.
01:27:30 And some pretty happy Italian support staff as well.
01:27:33 Yeah, that's the old man there.
01:27:35 Tore, congratulations.
01:27:38 So there you go, confirmation.
01:27:40 Look at that, folks, look at the top three times there.
01:27:43 But Raffaele Nuvaldi, something very special.
01:27:45 Franz Anton taking the silver,
01:27:48 Mikkel Trave the bronze,
01:27:50 and all those top six paddlers, Brodie, importantly,
01:27:53 none of them had any touches.
01:27:55 They were all clean, and that, I think, was a determining factor.
01:27:58 Yeah, it wasn't easy to go clean either.
01:28:00 It was a tough course, so really impressive final.
01:28:03 What?
01:28:04 Hey, look at this.
01:28:06 Luka Bozic wins by two points.
01:28:09 Wow.
01:28:10 Seriously?
01:28:11 Luka Bozic, 270,
01:28:13 Matej Benouz, 268,
01:28:15 Raffaele Nuvaldi, 257.
01:28:17 Good, Raffaele leapfrogged a few there to jump onto the overall World Cup podium.
01:28:21 Unbelievable, just two points separating Bozic and Benouz.
01:28:25 And now let's check out the ladies.
01:28:27 Jessica Fox, daylight second.
01:28:30 What a great season for her.
01:28:31 Elena Lilic taking the second position,
01:28:35 and Claudia Zvolinska, the third spot for season 2023.
01:28:40 So Jess Fox locking away another overall World Cup.
01:28:43 So impressive.
01:28:44 Three wins there out of five.
01:28:45 Pretty good racing from Jess.
01:28:47 Yeah.
01:28:48 Brodie Crawford, thank you so much for being part of the commentary again.
01:28:51 Thank you, Ross.
01:28:52 What a season we've had.
01:28:53 It's been incredible.
01:28:54 I look forward to seeing you in the kayak cross,
01:28:56 but if you don't make it there, you'll be joining me in the commentary.
01:28:58 I'll force you to do it.
01:28:59 Thank you at home.
01:29:00 I hope you've enjoyed today's finals.
01:29:02 My name is Ross Solley.
01:29:03 It's been my absolute privilege to bring you the quality of racing that we brought you today.
01:29:08 We hope you've enjoyed it.
01:29:09 Join us again tomorrow for the women's C1 and the men's K1.
01:29:13 There'll be some fantastic racing then as well.
01:29:16 And don't forget, you can watch the heats of those races this afternoon on our Planet Canoe page.
01:29:22 Go there and watch and enjoy racing this afternoon.
01:29:25 But for now, from Paris, France, goodbye.
01:29:29 See you, guys.
01:29:30 Thank you.
01:29:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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01:31:23 [INAUDIBLE]
01:31:38 I'm here with Jess Fox, winner of the women's kayak final.
01:31:47 What an incredible, sensational win to end off your season.
01:31:50 Tell us how it feels.
01:31:51 Thank you.
01:31:52 Yeah, amazing to be racing on the Paris Olympic course for this World Cup,
01:31:57 the final World Cup of the year.
01:31:59 So great feelings and so thrilled to take the win.
01:32:02 Less than one year to go until Paris 2024.
01:32:05 There's over 1,000 kids cheering you on.
01:32:07 Can you give them a little bit of a word in French?
01:32:09 Yeah.
01:32:10 [SPEAKING FRENCH]
01:32:13 [SPEAKING FRENCH]
01:32:18 Thank you to all the kids.
01:32:19 It was really amazing to race out there.
01:32:21 Raffi, this is your second World Cup win.
01:32:30 You won the--
01:32:31 [INAUDIBLE]
01:32:32 Oh, me.
01:32:33 Sorry.
01:32:34 Sorry.
01:32:34 OK, we'll start again.
01:32:36 Raffi Evaldi from Italy, this is your second World Cup win.
01:32:39 To win the World Cup final here in Paris, tell us what it means to you in Italian.
01:32:44 [SPEAKING ITALIAN]
01:33:08 And it's a very emotional win at the finish line.
01:33:11 I'm sure you'll have a nice break after this season.
01:33:14 [SPEAKING ITALIAN]
01:33:27 I'm here with Raffi Evaldi from Italy.
01:33:30 You are the World Cup winner of this men's canoe final.
01:33:33 Tell us how that feels for you today.
01:33:35 It's crazy.
01:33:37 Today, I didn't race just for myself.
01:33:41 Today, I raced for my mom, for my dad, for my brother, for all my team.
01:33:46 Because after I failed at the awards, it's just thanks to them, today I'm here.
01:33:52 I was wasted and devastated.
01:33:55 And they just pushed me.
01:33:58 And they brought me here.
01:34:00 And I am nothing without them.
01:34:02 So thank you.
01:34:04 We're also proud of you here, Raffy,
01:34:05 and to back up another World Cup win after La Sera.

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