WC & MK: Semis / 2023 ICF Canoe-Kayak Slalom World Cup Vaires Sur Marne Paris France

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2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup
5–8 October, Vaires Sur Marne Paris France ️
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Transcript

00:00:00 (beeping)

00:00:03 (beeping)

00:00:05 (upbeat music)

00:00:31 - Well, hello, here we are again.

00:00:34 Another day of top level Canoe Slalom racing

00:00:38 coming your way.

00:00:39 My name is Ross Solle.

00:00:40 It is great to be with you.

00:00:41 We are coming live from Paris, live from the venue

00:00:44 where next year, in less than 12 months from now,

00:00:48 the best athletes in the world

00:00:49 will be competing for Olympic gold.

00:00:52 It is our final Canoe Slalom World Cup event of the year.

00:00:56 It is a World Cup final and everything is on the line today.

00:01:00 It is my very great privilege to bring you the coverage.

00:01:02 What a beautiful morning it is here in Paris.

00:01:04 Joining me in the co-commentary position

00:01:06 is my very good friend, Mr. Brodie Crawford from Australia.

00:01:10 Good morning, Brodie.

00:01:11 What a great day's racing we have in store.

00:01:12 - Good morning.

00:01:13 Good morning, everyone tuning in today.

00:01:15 I'm very excited.

00:01:16 It's a little crisp out there at the moment, 10 degrees,

00:01:18 but the sun's shining through those clouds

00:01:21 and I think it's gonna be another awesome day

00:01:22 if yesterday was any indication.

00:01:24 - Absolutely.

00:01:25 Yes, the sun's only been up for about an hour,

00:01:27 so you can see there's still the fog lifting on the course.

00:01:30 The four runners have been out there.

00:01:32 They've been wearing the miners hat

00:01:33 so they can find their way down the course.

00:01:35 But we saw yesterday what a challenging course it is.

00:01:39 There were some really interesting gate placements

00:01:41 and there's some problems for athletes

00:01:44 who are not on top of their game, that is for sure.

00:01:47 Today, we're gonna be bringing you

00:01:49 the women's C1 semifinal and final

00:01:52 and then the men's K1 semifinal and final.

00:01:55 We are following as closely as possible

00:01:57 the schedule for the Olympics next year,

00:01:59 just so the athletes can get a good feel

00:02:01 for what it might be like if they are fortunate enough

00:02:04 to qualify for the Olympics.

00:02:06 And there are a lot of places being decided

00:02:08 here this weekend.

00:02:10 Yesterday, we had high drama on the water

00:02:13 with athletes going against their teammates,

00:02:15 trying to get the edge in Olympic selection.

00:02:19 And Brodie, I think it's gonna be the same again today.

00:02:21 - Yeah, so many races within races,

00:02:23 as we saw yesterday.

00:02:25 Yeah, teams battling within all year really.

00:02:28 And a lot of it comes down to today,

00:02:30 the last World Cup of the season,

00:02:32 to see who has that ticket to the Olympics

00:02:34 in this venue next year.

00:02:36 - And you can see there, everyone's rugged up,

00:02:39 except for Brodie and I, the two Australians.

00:02:41 We're wearing shorts and people are laughing at us.

00:02:44 People are pointing and laughing,

00:02:45 but we'll see who laughs at midday today

00:02:47 when it's 25 degrees.

00:02:49 It is a perfect forecast for today.

00:02:51 You've just got to toughen it out early, don't you Brodie?

00:02:53 - You do, got the footy shorts on, mate.

00:02:55 It's been beautiful during the day, so good here.

00:02:57 - Absolutely wonderful.

00:02:58 And I know that our sprint colleagues

00:03:02 will be looking with envy,

00:03:03 'cause when they came here for the test event,

00:03:05 it was cold and windy.

00:03:07 And they'll be very jealous of what we're watching

00:03:09 here today.

00:03:10 So, we have 24 women who are taking to the course.

00:03:14 12 will get through to the final later on today.

00:03:16 It is a change which we'll be bringing in

00:03:20 for Paris next year.

00:03:21 Instead of a 10 person final,

00:03:23 it'll be a 12 person final next year,

00:03:25 which will just add to the intrigue for sure.

00:03:28 And the first paddler on the course,

00:03:29 I'm giving a little bit of early work

00:03:30 for the judges who haven't probably sat down properly

00:03:33 in their comfortable chairs just yet.

00:03:35 It's Elena Tunissen from the Netherlands

00:03:39 out there having a crack.

00:03:42 - Yeah, she's into the first tricky move there,

00:03:44 across the stopper, into the spin.

00:03:46 Manages it not too bad, a little sticky,

00:03:48 but she's putting down a good start here

00:03:49 and we know it's all about the bottom half

00:03:51 of this race run.

00:03:54 - Brodie, what's a big difference for the athletes

00:03:56 who will be taking off early here,

00:03:58 whereas it is, as you said, it's a bit chilly.

00:04:00 They need to rug up a little bit more.

00:04:02 Are they at a disadvantage from the athletes

00:04:04 who might come later on in the day

00:04:05 when the sun's coming through

00:04:06 and it might be a bit warmer on the face?

00:04:09 - Yeah, I think potentially maybe, yeah.

00:04:11 Yeah, you have to wear more layers.

00:04:13 It's hard to get the muscles warmed up and firing.

00:04:17 And again, the people that go at the end of the runs

00:04:20 get to watch the people at the start.

00:04:22 So people like Jess Fox can be watching on the bank

00:04:24 and seeing how the early paddlers

00:04:26 are navigating these gates.

00:04:28 - So a good run so far for Elena Tunissen, no mistakes.

00:04:32 We saw yesterday in the women's,

00:04:34 oh, the commentator's curse kicks in early,

00:04:36 like to get one out of the way early

00:04:38 in the commentary with a touch with her back.

00:04:41 So that's a two second penalty

00:04:42 when you touch the gate for Elena Tunissen.

00:04:46 But other than that, it's been a,

00:04:48 she's been pushed a little bit low there as well.

00:04:51 Yeah, so.

00:04:52 - It's been a solid run.

00:04:53 So if it's gonna be good enough for a top 12.

00:04:56 - Solid without being spectacular.

00:04:58 - Yeah.

00:04:59 - For Elena Tunissen, but she's put down a time

00:05:03 and that's the important thing.

00:05:04 Everybody else has to try and go out and beat that.

00:05:06 The interesting thing is, here we go.

00:05:10 A world champion on the course earlier, Andrea Herzog,

00:05:14 who yesterday in her first run.

00:05:16 - Had a battle, didn't she?

00:05:18 - She got, I think, three or four 50s in a row

00:05:21 because she lost her, she tried a move, she said,

00:05:24 which she thought nobody else had done.

00:05:25 So she wanted to give a go at it

00:05:26 'cause it just seemed like such a simple move.

00:05:28 Turns out it wasn't simple.

00:05:29 And then she flipped and then missed a couple of gates.

00:05:32 And by the time she resurfaced,

00:05:34 she was too far down the water to go back.

00:05:37 So then she came out in the second run.

00:05:39 And as you can see, the reason she's coming off second,

00:05:42 second on the course is she only just scraped

00:05:44 into the semifinal.

00:05:45 - Stressful day for her.

00:05:47 It was like yesterday by the sounds of it.

00:05:48 - By the skin of her teeth, yes.

00:05:50 She looked very relieved

00:05:51 when I spoke to her yesterday afternoon.

00:05:53 But we know what she's capable of, Brodie.

00:05:55 She's a former world champion, so she's very, very good.

00:05:58 - Yeah, I think judging by yesterday,

00:06:00 she'll be looking to nail this semifinal run

00:06:02 and we should get a good indication

00:06:03 of what the finals time might look like.

00:06:06 - She had a very disappointing world championships though.

00:06:08 It was one of the surprise early casualties

00:06:13 at the world championships.

00:06:14 But, oh, look at that.

00:06:15 - Oh no.

00:06:16 - She's missed that gate as well.

00:06:18 But she's going back.

00:06:19 Is she gonna go back or not?

00:06:21 She's gotta go back.

00:06:21 What a tough ask this is.

00:06:22 - That's a long way back.

00:06:24 Just, yeah, didn't pick the wave up there on 12 Ross.

00:06:26 It just, almost an endo again.

00:06:29 The nose sunk and the tail popped out.

00:06:30 - Yeah.

00:06:32 - She went low.

00:06:33 - Wow, that was tough work.

00:06:34 It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll.

00:06:36 And she found it really difficult to get back there.

00:06:39 Lost a lot of time.

00:06:40 So that'll be disappointing for Andrea Herzog.

00:06:43 Still clean.

00:06:44 Oh, she struggled with that one as well.

00:06:46 Oh my goodness.

00:06:48 This is not the Andrea Herzog that we've come to expect.

00:06:52 As I said, she had a disappointing world championships

00:06:54 and really struggling to get her rhythm here as well.

00:06:57 So.

00:06:58 - Gee, that's tough.

00:06:59 Yeah, tough finish to the season.

00:07:01 A couple more results.

00:07:02 - There is no, I can confirm though, Brody,

00:07:05 and you can take this to the bank.

00:07:06 'Cause a lot of the stuff you and I spoke about yesterday

00:07:08 turned out to be rubbish.

00:07:09 I can confirm that these races here

00:07:13 have no bearing on German selection.

00:07:15 So.

00:07:16 - Oh yeah, I did make that call later on in the day.

00:07:18 - Good.

00:07:18 - Yeah.

00:07:19 - So Andrea, she's not happy.

00:07:21 But it won't affect her battle for the Olympic spot.

00:07:26 And another paddler who is on the water

00:07:28 much earlier than we might expect it,

00:07:31 is Angele Hooke, the French paddler.

00:07:33 She had a podium at the World Cups earlier this year

00:07:35 and has been an absolute revelation.

00:07:38 - She has been, yeah.

00:07:39 It's been a really good season.

00:07:41 Getting stuck a little bit in that stopper.

00:07:44 Getting it done.

00:07:44 Just gotta keep the boat moving on.

00:07:46 Getting stuck again.

00:07:47 Oh, wow.

00:07:48 Boat just standing still there.

00:07:49 It's not what you wanna see.

00:07:51 - Little bit surprised, Brody,

00:07:53 given that this is their home course.

00:07:54 You would think that the French paddlers

00:07:55 would have lots of practice

00:07:57 in these sorts of stoppers and that.

00:07:59 But she struggled on both directions here.

00:08:01 - Yeah, that's true.

00:08:02 I've been a little surprised by the whole weekend,

00:08:05 actually.

00:08:05 The French have struggled as much as the rest of us.

00:08:07 So, obviously it takes a while

00:08:10 to sort of get that home ground advantage.

00:08:13 Hopefully I can do it in another six months.

00:08:15 - Nice crowd already building up here

00:08:17 at the Olympic Stadium.

00:08:19 Yesterday we had a couple of thousand school kids.

00:08:22 Oh, goodness me. - Oh my goodness.

00:08:23 - What is happening?

00:08:24 - Stuck against the plastic bollard there.

00:08:26 She's having a battle of a run.

00:08:28 - I hope she didn't get the fingies

00:08:30 jammed between the paddle and the bollard.

00:08:32 - She might have.

00:08:33 That would sting this morning.

00:08:35 It's quite cold.

00:08:36 - Yeah, it would do.

00:08:38 - So that would not impress her either.

00:08:39 So all in all, not the run that she would be hoping

00:08:43 to put on for the home crowd here.

00:08:46 - No, sort of in touch, slightly back.

00:08:50 But I think, yeah, like we said earlier,

00:08:51 it's gonna take a lot more to make that top 12

00:08:53 and race to the final this afternoon.

00:08:55 - Maybe Lena Tunison knew something that we don't

00:08:58 because she was very careful with her run.

00:09:02 - She was, and we saw a lot of trouble yesterday

00:09:05 on this course, didn't we, Ross?

00:09:07 - Look at that disappointment there.

00:09:08 It is selection for the French.

00:09:10 I think this is maybe their final selection race.

00:09:14 - I think that's pretty tight too in the C1 women.

00:09:16 They've all fairly consistent season,

00:09:20 very similar results.

00:09:22 - Now, Ellis Miller is on the course,

00:09:24 the first of the Brits, three Brits in this race.

00:09:27 Of course, later on we'll have Mallory Franklin

00:09:28 and Kimberly Woods both on the course.

00:09:31 But Ellis Miller has a chance now

00:09:34 to really put down a good run

00:09:36 and get herself on top of the leaderboard early

00:09:38 because the three paddlers we've had so far,

00:09:40 including former world champion Andrea Herzog,

00:09:44 have really struggled this morning.

00:09:45 So let's see if Ellis Miller can tame

00:09:47 this wild beast, Brodie Crawford.

00:09:50 - Yeah, looking pretty good so far.

00:09:53 Getting the top of the course done, pretty solid,

00:09:55 nothing specky, that's all you need

00:09:57 'cause all the hard stuff starts from here.

00:09:59 - Seen so much trouble in 12.13

00:10:01 and let's see how she navigates those gates now

00:10:04 out of the upstream 10, 11.12, 13, I should say.

00:10:07 - Ooh, here we go. - It's a three gate combo.

00:10:09 - Sneaky little touch with the back of the boat,

00:10:11 which she won't be aware of.

00:10:12 So there's a two second penalty,

00:10:15 which won't help her cause.

00:10:16 Ooh.

00:10:17 - Just dropping back a bit, but not too bad.

00:10:21 Not the fastest we've seen,

00:10:22 but the best so far this morning.

00:10:25 - Yeah, her time is,

00:10:28 well, she's a bit down on the split,

00:10:29 but there was a lot of time lost

00:10:34 at the bottom of the course for all the paddlers.

00:10:36 Oh, stuck there a little bit for Ellis Miller.

00:10:39 Certainly one of the future stars

00:10:41 you would think of British canoeing,

00:10:44 but you've got to remind yourself

00:10:45 that even though Mallory Franklin and Kimberley Woodson

00:10:48 feel like they've been around forever there,

00:10:50 both very young paddlers still,

00:10:51 and probably got a couple more Olympics in them,

00:10:54 at least you'd think, Brodie.

00:10:55 - Yeah, they very, very well could do.

00:10:57 They've got a fair bit of depth

00:10:59 in that C1 women class.

00:11:00 - They sure have.

00:11:01 - There's five, six, seven good girls.

00:11:02 - So Ellis Miller drops into third position,

00:11:07 and I don't think they've seen any of these times finish.

00:11:10 Well, I have been proven wrong before,

00:11:12 but I'd be very surprised if any of these early athletes

00:11:15 will be featuring in our final later on.

00:11:17 12 athletes will go through,

00:11:19 half the field will go through.

00:11:21 - Yeah, I think we saw a 95 in the C1 men,

00:11:25 and I'm expecting around a 105, I think,

00:11:27 for the win in the C1 women, about 10 seconds.

00:11:31 - And just to fill you in on where we are

00:11:33 with the World Cup standings,

00:11:34 because this is the World Cup final,

00:11:35 so double points at play.

00:11:38 We saw yesterday Jessica Fox celebrate

00:11:40 her fifth consecutive K1,

00:11:43 oh, and there Andrea Aouia-Kerzorog

00:11:46 there getting stuck as well in that stopper.

00:11:49 We saw Jessica Fox yesterday celebrate

00:11:51 her fifth consecutive K1 overall World Cup title,

00:11:56 which was quite incredible.

00:11:58 And she is Brodie Crawford

00:11:59 well and truly in the box seat today.

00:12:01 She's already got a commanding lead in the women's C1,

00:12:05 and her nearest rival, Eleanor Lilick, is not here.

00:12:09 Amazingly, yesterday, did not make the semifinal.

00:12:12 - Whoa, I missed that.

00:12:13 You're kidding.

00:12:14 - She did not make the semifinal,

00:12:15 so that has really delivered this.

00:12:19 I mean, there are still athletes,

00:12:20 because it is, oh, another touch there for Kozarov.

00:12:22 Because it's worth 120 points to win,

00:12:25 I mean, if Fox makes it absolute pizzeria

00:12:29 of her run today and doesn't make it through to the final,

00:12:31 it could throw it open for Victoria Oos

00:12:33 or Kimberly Woods, maybe, to jump up the leaderboard.

00:12:37 But with Lilick missing the semifinal,

00:12:39 we could see Jessica Fox pick up the C1

00:12:45 overall World Cup crown as well to go with her K1,

00:12:49 which it'd be hard to bet against that, wouldn't it?

00:12:52 - Sure would.

00:12:52 - Bit of a tough run here for Elia.

00:12:55 She's kept her head in the game.

00:12:57 She's pushing all the way to the finish,

00:12:59 but yeah, just off line in a few spots,

00:13:00 and as we can see, a couple of two-second penalties

00:13:03 are not gonna help her time.

00:13:06 - So we're five athletes down,

00:13:08 and we're yet to see a run that will really

00:13:11 make the hair stand up on the back of our neck.

00:13:14 Some difficulty for a few of the athletes.

00:13:15 Let's see if this young lady, Victoria Oos,

00:13:18 she's had a good year.

00:13:20 - She's had a great year, hasn't she?

00:13:22 Really good results.

00:13:23 A bit of a breakout year in C1, I would say.

00:13:26 I haven't seen her in the top 10 in a few,

00:13:28 has she had some podiums?

00:13:29 I think she-- - She got a second

00:13:31 in Tuckson, from memory, and she is in the running.

00:13:35 She's currently sitting third in the World Cup standing,

00:13:39 so she's one of the athletes who could make the most

00:13:41 of Jessica Fox if she makes a big mistake today.

00:13:46 But Victoria will need to, oh,

00:13:48 and she's giving the judges some work to do there.

00:13:51 Just reminding you, if you don't go through,

00:13:53 if your entire head and part of the body,

00:13:56 and part of the boat does not go between the gates,

00:13:59 then that is a 50-second penalty,

00:14:01 and they are having a look at gate eight for Victoria.

00:14:05 It's a bit hard to tell from our angle.

00:14:07 We're sitting up here, we are on the grassy knoll.

00:14:10 Or as somebody told me yesterday,

00:14:13 we're like the fools on the hill.

00:14:15 (laughing)

00:14:16 That was a bit unkind, I thought.

00:14:18 - The experts on the hill.

00:14:18 - That's what I would have thought.

00:14:20 I think that's what they meant.

00:14:22 English wasn't their first language,

00:14:23 so I think something got lost in the translation.

00:14:25 So we're not in a--

00:14:28 Ooh, yeah, that's okay.

00:14:30 - Yeah, she's putting together a solid run here.

00:14:32 They've given her the all clear on that gate eight,

00:14:34 which is what I thought when I saw it,

00:14:35 so good to have the judges on our side.

00:14:38 - Yeah.

00:14:39 So there are judges on the side of the course.

00:14:41 You might be able to spot them in the background.

00:14:43 They're wearing the very eye-catching mauve jumps.

00:14:45 There you go, we just saw a judge there

00:14:47 doing the horizontal arm sweep, which means all clear.

00:14:50 So there, there, then we also have cameras

00:14:53 covering nearly every possible angle

00:14:56 as we have a new race leader.

00:14:57 Now it's Victoria Oos goes into the lead.

00:15:01 Don't know if that's gonna be good enough, Brodie, but--

00:15:05 - Yeah, it's hard to read at the moment.

00:15:07 - Yep.

00:15:08 - Ooh, here comes Big Naomi Fox,

00:15:10 the first of the Australians.

00:15:11 - I don't know that she'll be happy

00:15:12 with you calling her Big Naomi Fox, but--

00:15:14 - Big Star is what I meant.

00:15:15 - Big Star is what you meant, yeah.

00:15:16 - Petite Naomi Fox, who's a big star on the course,

00:15:20 desperate to get into the final today

00:15:22 for the women's C1, just missing out on the K1,

00:15:27 but really working hard here today.

00:15:31 And this is wide open now for her

00:15:33 after the first six paddlers, and a good start for her.

00:15:35 She's up on the split.

00:15:37 - Yeah, very good.

00:15:37 Let's see how she goes in this move.

00:15:39 We haven't really seen anyone nail it so far,

00:15:42 as good as probably we've seen this morning.

00:15:43 So, boy, that's very good there, Ross,

00:15:47 from the next downstream.

00:15:48 So, she's on a good start here.

00:15:50 - And we're tracking for a good run here for Naomi Fox,

00:15:52 the younger sister of Jessica Fox,

00:15:54 and has been threatening a few times this season,

00:15:59 but just not able to deliver that knockout run

00:16:02 that we know that she's capable of.

00:16:03 Could this be her event?

00:16:06 Big, of course, the French with the Fox family,

00:16:08 they will and truly get behind the Foxes

00:16:11 because, of course, Miriam, mum, is French,

00:16:14 and both girls speak fluent French,

00:16:16 and Jessica, of course, winning over the crowd yesterday

00:16:20 when she was giving part of her victory speech in French.

00:16:23 - Yeah, no, they're very proud of their French heritage.

00:16:26 So, I'm sure the crowd will get behind them

00:16:29 if maybe there's no French in the final, maybe.

00:16:32 - Well, this has been a good run for Naomi.

00:16:34 She's up on the split and needs to just hold it together

00:16:37 here on the bottom of the course,

00:16:38 and she could actually put herself in the mix here.

00:16:40 - Yeah, I reckon this could be enough.

00:16:41 She's got to get this last move easier said than done.

00:16:44 - And it's been clean, which is the important thing,

00:16:46 and that's not too bad at all.

00:16:47 So, this is going to be good.

00:16:48 - Solid.

00:16:49 - I think we're going to have a new race leader,

00:16:51 Naomi Fox from Australia.

00:16:52 She's going to go around the 1.11 mark,

00:16:54 which will be pretty reasonable.

00:16:56 Is it going to be enough?

00:16:58 Yes, there's the smile.

00:17:00 There is the smile that we've been waiting for.

00:17:02 - Well done.

00:17:03 I think that'll be enough for us.

00:17:04 - Ooh, big call.

00:17:06 - Yeah, I like the look of that run.

00:17:08 - Yeah, it was a good run.

00:17:09 It was tidy, it was neat, there were no penalties.

00:17:12 So, well done, Naomi.

00:17:14 Now she has to just wait and see if that'll be a top 12,

00:17:17 but I think you might be right, Brodie.

00:17:19 I think the way we're seeing some of these runs unfold.

00:17:22 Lucie Priot, though, the French paddler,

00:17:26 hometown knowledge, of course, 2014 junior world champion,

00:17:30 and silver in 2015.

00:17:31 So, been a while, though,

00:17:33 since we've seen the very, very best of Lucie Priot.

00:17:36 Let's see if she does it today in front of the home fans.

00:17:39 - Yeah, been off the French team for a couple of years,

00:17:43 but such a strong team.

00:17:45 Sure, she's still been training hard

00:17:46 and she's been looking good this year.

00:17:48 And putting together a good start to this run.

00:17:51 - Just getting stuck a little bit in that stopper.

00:17:53 But otherwise, not so bad.

00:17:58 Yes, I was in the middle of saying

00:17:59 we have camera angles covering all the gates.

00:18:03 And then we have a team of very astute judges.

00:18:06 They are very astute.

00:18:06 I saw them this morning at the breakfast table

00:18:08 and they were studying their breakfast.

00:18:11 Just eyeing it off, working out what's right, what's wrong.

00:18:14 Oh, Lucie, a lazy little, not lazy, sorry, Lucie,

00:18:17 I shouldn't say that, sneaky little gate touch there.

00:18:20 - Yeah, on the back of the PFD.

00:18:23 - So we have, yes, the judges,

00:18:25 and they sit there in ground control

00:18:26 and they look at all the camera angles

00:18:28 and they check out any calls

00:18:31 that the sideline eye makes with,

00:18:33 and there's another one.

00:18:34 - Oh, another one, exact same sort of touch.

00:18:36 - Yep, hits the back again.

00:18:37 - Just a loss of spatial awareness there, Lucie.

00:18:40 - Two sneaky little touches

00:18:42 which she probably might not be aware of

00:18:45 and will not be impressed about

00:18:46 when she gets to the bottom of the course.

00:18:47 So they will examine every call,

00:18:50 every major call especially,

00:18:51 every 50 is examined in minute detail

00:18:54 because it is a game changer for any athlete.

00:18:58 But here's Lucie now, she's not gonna be-

00:19:00 - Yeah, strong finish,

00:19:01 but just a couple of two-second penalties.

00:19:04 - She'll be surprised when she looks up

00:19:05 and sees she has two gate touches

00:19:08 'cause they're both sneaky little touches on the back.

00:19:11 - Yeah, shout out to those video judges

00:19:13 that have been on point, haven't they, Ross?

00:19:15 They don't miss a trick.

00:19:16 Oh, and a tough start here.

00:19:18 But who we got on the course?

00:19:19 - Alexandra Stuck is on from Poland.

00:19:23 - Just falling low on the first upstream.

00:19:25 It's always tough when you start a run like that.

00:19:27 Let's see if she can fight back from here.

00:19:29 Pedal down.

00:19:31 - She's giving it her all.

00:19:33 She, her biggest moment in her paddling,

00:19:37 well, she'll probably say,

00:19:38 no, I had a bigger moment than that,

00:19:39 but way, way back, she was,

00:19:42 I think she may well have been our last

00:19:45 mixed K2 world champion.

00:19:47 She won the mixed K2 world champion title in Rio.

00:19:54 - Oh, wow.

00:19:56 - In 2017.

00:19:58 So I'm pretty certain that she's probably the reigning.

00:20:00 - The reigning, yeah.

00:20:01 Mixed C2 though, I think you told me that, Ross.

00:20:02 - Mixed C2, sorry, yes, sorry.

00:20:04 Not mixed K2, mixed C2.

00:20:05 - Yeah, I forgot about those couple of years back there.

00:20:10 - Did you ever do it?

00:20:11 - No, it looked like good fun though.

00:20:13 It's a shame.

00:20:13 - Yeah.

00:20:14 So nice, clean run so far from Stuck,

00:20:20 but yeah, losing a bit of time up the top,

00:20:21 as you can see, more than seven seconds down.

00:20:24 - Yeah.

00:20:25 Quite conservative there in 11,

00:20:26 really slowing down the boat,

00:20:28 getting it done,

00:20:29 but maybe losing a little bit of boat speed.

00:20:32 Just making sure of every gate here.

00:20:34 - You can see now the sun is starting to come through.

00:20:36 Parts of the course are bathed

00:20:38 in the early morning sunshine.

00:20:39 We are-

00:20:40 - It's beautiful out there, isn't it?

00:20:41 - It really is.

00:20:42 We're-

00:20:42 Ooh, it's the hair.

00:20:43 - The hair, will they give the touch on the hair?

00:20:45 - They will.

00:20:46 That's the way it goes.

00:20:49 I always think, though, Brodie,

00:20:50 if you've got the long hair,

00:20:53 it can be a bit of a hindrance.

00:20:54 Remember that, I can't remember where it was,

00:20:56 where Jessica Fox,

00:20:58 her ponytail clipped a gate in a costa remittal.

00:21:00 - Yeah, it swung out.

00:21:01 The pole was slapped.

00:21:02 - What do you do with your flowing locks, mate?

00:21:04 You just let them flow?

00:21:05 - Let them flow, mate.

00:21:06 Yep.

00:21:07 - Man, it looks good.

00:21:08 There's no better sight than seeing Brodie Crawford

00:21:09 charging down a slalom course

00:21:11 with her locks flowing in the breeze.

00:21:13 - I think Jess, yeah,

00:21:15 she tucks that ponytail in these days.

00:21:17 - It's a good idea.

00:21:18 - It's the other way around.

00:21:18 - Well, yeah, it's Dave Alexander stuck

00:21:21 at two second penalty there, so.

00:21:23 Now, Claudia Zwolinski,

00:21:26 who celebrated another bronze yesterday

00:21:29 in the K1 and also an overall World Cup bronze.

00:21:34 So she will be invigorated.

00:21:36 - Yeah, she will be.

00:21:37 And she's got a beautiful style in C1,

00:21:39 very smooth, very efficient.

00:21:42 Copping an early touch on three.

00:21:43 So she needs to probably take a few more risks here

00:21:47 and really lay down some speed.

00:21:49 - She told me yesterday, Brodie,

00:21:50 that she took your and my advice

00:21:53 and decided that she would go down yesterday clean

00:21:56 without any penalties.

00:21:57 And I said, well, glad that we could help.

00:22:00 I don't know that you needed us to tell us that.

00:22:02 - We're doing God's work in this studio.

00:22:04 - We're helping young paddlers.

00:22:06 We're helping young paddlers on their path to the future.

00:22:09 But Claudia Zwolinski,

00:22:11 she picked up silver in the European Championships this year

00:22:14 so we know what she's capable of.

00:22:16 And at the moment, this race is wide open.

00:22:19 We're really yet to see many great runs so far.

00:22:24 Naomi Fox sitting on top of the leaderboard

00:22:26 with a 1.11 and then the next best time

00:22:28 is three seconds behind that.

00:22:30 So this is, as we head towards the middle.

00:22:33 - Touchdown 16.

00:22:35 Very, that's a very solid controlled run.

00:22:38 It's looking good.

00:22:39 - Why didn't she take our advice today, Brodie?

00:22:41 - Yeah, she's got to need to really nail this last upstream

00:22:43 to stay in contention.

00:22:44 So a little low.

00:22:47 - She's losing some time here as well.

00:22:49 A lot of these athletes,

00:22:50 speaking to them around the course, Brodie,

00:22:52 are talking about just how tired they are.

00:22:55 As they feel really tired at the moment.

00:22:57 It's been a long season as Claudia goes into second overall

00:23:00 and a bit of a shake of the head there.

00:23:02 So I'm not sure she's convinced that's going to be enough.

00:23:04 It's been a long season and because of the format here,

00:23:08 Brodie, a lot of the women especially

00:23:10 had four races yesterday.

00:23:13 - Yeah.

00:23:14 - Because it's compulsory you do both runs in the heats.

00:23:18 And a few of them just said how exhausted

00:23:20 they felt last night.

00:23:22 - Yeah, it was a pretty brutal day

00:23:24 and it was a late finish too.

00:23:25 I think last run here was about 6.30 last night.

00:23:28 - Yeah.

00:23:29 - So yeah, it's a pretty brutal end to a long season,

00:23:32 but hey, we're happy to be here.

00:23:34 It's a privilege to be here.

00:23:35 - Yeah, you are.

00:23:36 Yes, where else would you be?

00:23:37 - That's right.

00:23:38 - If you weren't out here paddling away,

00:23:40 doing what you love,

00:23:42 or sitting in the commentary box doing what you love.

00:23:46 - Looking at Ross, slick haircut of his.

00:23:48 - Thanks, mate.

00:23:49 Thank you very much.

00:23:50 I spent a lot of money on that.

00:23:52 Like, anyway.

00:23:55 Back to the slalom.

00:23:55 - Mirren Laskarner, I'll tell you later on,

00:23:58 the deal I got, you'll be shocked.

00:24:00 - Okay.

00:24:01 - Well, I'll tell you, this is in Australian dollars.

00:24:03 This haircut, you'll find it's very hard to believe.

00:24:06 $18.

00:24:07 Who pays $18 for a haircut these days?

00:24:10 - That's good value.

00:24:11 - And what's more, my hairdresser, she said to me,

00:24:14 "You've been here a few times.

00:24:16 "I'd like to offer you our VIP deal."

00:24:19 Oh, big gate touch there for Mirren Laskarner.

00:24:22 "I'd like to offer you our VIP deal for 120."

00:24:26 No, what'd she say?

00:24:26 "For, you can have 12 haircuts for $120."

00:24:31 Now, you do the maths on that, my friend.

00:24:37 $10 a haircut. - 10 bucks.

00:24:39 - Oh, no, Mirren.

00:24:40 - Mirren just.

00:24:41 - Big problems.

00:24:42 - Jeez, that's some serious value, Ross.

00:24:46 - It's good.

00:24:47 How good is-- - Send me their way.

00:24:49 - I mean, how good is that?

00:24:50 Bro, who pays $10 for a haircut?

00:24:51 - I'd love that.

00:24:51 - Who pays $10 for a haircut these days?

00:24:52 - I'd love that.

00:24:53 - I know.

00:24:54 And quality haircut.

00:24:56 So Mirren Laskarner there, unfortunately, look at that.

00:24:59 You can see the checkerboard there.

00:25:01 - Yeah.

00:25:02 - Three touches. - Two seconds penalties.

00:25:04 It's always gotta be pretty hard with that, man.

00:25:06 - Yeah.

00:25:07 - Two second penalties on top of your raw time.

00:25:09 - So, Lya Novak on the course.

00:25:11 Now, this is competitor number 12 of 24.

00:25:15 So, after Lya, we're gonna start seeing some Fs

00:25:19 appearing alongside people's names.

00:25:20 Now, that's not F for fail, that is F for final.

00:25:24 It sort of threw Brody and I a little bit yesterday

00:25:26 'cause we're used to seeing Q come up and, "Oh!"

00:25:28 But F for final will start appearing not after this run,

00:25:34 but the run after this, we'll start seeing

00:25:36 who's gonna make up today's C1 Women's Final.

00:25:40 And right now, Nomi Fox sitting in the box position.

00:25:42 She is the fastest qualifier.

00:25:44 - Yeah, Lya Novak, though, oh, just about to call it.

00:25:47 She gets a two second penalty,

00:25:49 but on a pretty fast time, you know,

00:25:51 really aggressive start.

00:25:52 And it's interesting to watch her paddle.

00:25:54 She doesn't do much swapping, Ross,

00:25:56 which is quite rare in the women's field.

00:25:58 - In these days, yeah.

00:25:59 Men, not so much, but in women.

00:26:02 - These cross-bow ups, it's vintage.

00:26:05 - Vintage.

00:26:06 - Love to see it.

00:26:06 - Yep, yep.

00:26:08 Oh, look at the crowd already.

00:26:10 It's built up on the banks there.

00:26:13 - Oh my goodness, whoa!

00:26:15 - Oh, got a big water splash on the camera!

00:26:18 - That was outrageous.

00:26:19 - How many people flinched at home then?

00:26:21 When that is 3D.

00:26:23 - We've seen a few of those,

00:26:24 where the nose sinks and the tail just launches.

00:26:27 - Yeah, that is one for the fans at home,

00:26:29 just giving them a water splash.

00:26:31 If you're sitting at home and you just flinched

00:26:33 'cause you thought you were gonna get a face full of water,

00:26:35 you're not the only one, I did as well.

00:26:37 Oh, there's a touch as well from Lya,

00:26:39 so she's put together such a nice run.

00:26:42 - Yeah. - Such a shame, but yeah.

00:26:44 12-13 combination claims another person.

00:26:47 - She's trying to get back on track now, Lya Novak.

00:26:53 From Slovenia.

00:26:57 I think the race for the Slovenian Olympic position-

00:27:01 Oh! - Oh!

00:27:02 - Oh no, that's a 50.

00:27:04 That is a big 50, that's an angry swat.

00:27:07 That's an angry swat, and she's not happy.

00:27:10 She's gonna go back and give it another swat, is she?

00:27:12 - She's fighting all sorts of demons in there now.

00:27:14 - Oh yeah, look at that, there's a look of anger.

00:27:16 Look out, gate, you're about to cop one.

00:27:19 That is- - Quick, get the camera off her.

00:27:20 We don't know what's gonna happen next.

00:27:21 - No, that's right.

00:27:22 That is a 50 that you'll get for that.

00:27:24 You cannot deliberately move the gate,

00:27:27 and I don't think Brody has any question at all.

00:27:29 - No.

00:27:30 - That wasn't a deliberate swat of the gate.

00:27:35 - Raging that one, I think.

00:27:36 - Yeah, it was indeed.

00:27:36 - Ooh, look at this, though.

00:27:37 One second up, Nuria Villarruba, as you would expect.

00:27:41 I mean, she's one of the early pioneers of women's canoe.

00:27:44 - That's right, she's had a tough, long time.

00:27:46 - Ooh, there's that touch, though.

00:27:48 Here we are, we've put the curse on her already

00:27:50 for Nuria Villarruba.

00:27:51 So we're about to see our first finalist.

00:27:55 Will it be Nuria Villarruba,

00:27:56 or will it be Nomi Fox from Australia?

00:27:59 Nomi Fox's time is a 1.11.74.

00:28:03 She'd be desperately unlucky now, Brody,

00:28:05 not to make the final.

00:28:06 That would be the next 12 paddlers

00:28:08 will all go under 1.11.

00:28:09 - Very unlucky, yeah.

00:28:10 - Yeah, it would be more than her, a lot.

00:28:12 Good run here, though, from Nuria.

00:28:15 This is nice.

00:28:16 This is what we expect now from the top-level paddlers.

00:28:19 - Yeah, making light work of that 12.13 combination,

00:28:23 which a lot of people have struggled with.

00:28:24 It's looking very good so far from Nuria.

00:28:26 - And a couple of gates being reviewed there,

00:28:33 but I didn't see anything.

00:28:35 When just to the naked eye,

00:28:38 but the judges will have a close look,

00:28:40 but at this stage,

00:28:42 she's on track here to possibly go into the lead.

00:28:45 Oh no, going a little bit low there.

00:28:46 It's gonna be close.

00:28:47 Oh no, there we go.

00:28:48 It's not gonna be close.

00:28:49 - That could be costly, that touch.

00:28:51 - That could be very costly.

00:28:54 She will be annoyed to throw that away there.

00:28:57 Yeah, that's a disappointment for her.

00:29:02 And what that means is that Nomi Fox

00:29:04 will be into the final.

00:29:06 - Jeez, there was six seconds of penalties

00:29:08 on that time, Ross.

00:29:09 You missed a couple there.

00:29:11 - No, but well, they were reviewing.

00:29:13 - Yeah.

00:29:13 - They reviewed them and now, wow, quite a fast time.

00:29:16 - Her raw time was a 1.08 for Nuria Villarruba,

00:29:20 so she'll be really disappointed there for sure.

00:29:24 Teresa Deblova is on the course.

00:29:27 Very exciting young paddler.

00:29:29 Silver in the under 23 World Championships this year,

00:29:32 and she's a two-time junior silver medalist,

00:29:36 so overdue for a gold medal.

00:29:39 And of course, we know how strong the Czechs are, Brodie,

00:29:41 so...

00:29:42 - Oh, yes.

00:29:43 You're part of that Czech squad.

00:29:45 - It was like a bucking bronco in there for Teresa Deblova.

00:29:48 She looked like she was never gonna get off.

00:29:49 It was like one of those mechanical bulls that you ride

00:29:51 sometimes, you know that pub that you frequent

00:29:54 in Sydney with a mechanical bull?

00:29:55 - Got the record there, mate.

00:29:56 - Have you?

00:29:57 - Yeah.

00:29:58 - How long were you on for?

00:29:59 - Two days.

00:30:00 - Two days?

00:30:01 (both laughing)

00:30:04 You'd fallen asleep and they couldn't get you off.

00:30:08 - Teresa Deblova, though, listen to the crowd,

00:30:10 getting up, getting excited.

00:30:12 - Yeah, she's well in touch.

00:30:13 Just muscled her way through the top section of this course

00:30:15 and now hopefully can finesse her way through the bottom

00:30:18 'cause it's pretty tough down here.

00:30:20 - But there's a review going on.

00:30:24 Tell you what, the judges are better on, yeah,

00:30:26 you and I haven't had enough coffee.

00:30:28 They've spotted things that you and I have missed

00:30:30 today already.

00:30:31 - A little off our game, but we usually pick up.

00:30:33 - Yep.

00:30:34 As the day gets on, we're better.

00:30:36 So she's up on the split at the moment,

00:30:37 Teresa Deblova needs to hold it together.

00:30:41 Naomi Fox had a clean run.

00:30:42 She's one of only a handful of athletes so far

00:30:45 who have gone down without any penalties.

00:30:47 - Yeah, we haven't seen anyone nail that 19, 20,

00:30:51 no, but we just saw there.

00:30:52 So there's definitely time there for her.

00:30:54 - Here we go, though.

00:30:55 This is gonna be close.

00:30:56 New leader, I think.

00:30:57 Just, no, just outside, but she's in.

00:31:00 She's straight into the final.

00:31:01 Teresa Deblova, and that'll be a great relief for her,

00:31:06 for sure.

00:31:07 Now, Kimberly Woods takes to the water.

00:31:12 Two-time European champion,

00:31:14 and silver medalist at the World Championships

00:31:17 just a couple of weeks ago in Lee Valley.

00:31:19 What a day that was for the British fans.

00:31:21 Gold and silver.

00:31:22 - It was pretty epic, wasn't it?

00:31:23 It was a very exciting day.

00:31:25 Really good day to be in the crowd.

00:31:27 She's, yeah, she's in some incredible form.

00:31:31 Hard to do a bet against her today.

00:31:32 She'll be pushing her way into that final.

00:31:34 She's certainly determined, and the thing is,

00:31:37 she's one of just a handful of athletes

00:31:38 who could challenge later on Jess Fox

00:31:40 for the overall World Cup champion for 2023.

00:31:45 But to do that, she needs to make the final.

00:31:47 Ooh, geez, hard work.

00:31:50 - That's tough, isn't it?

00:31:51 Yeah, it's real physical there.

00:31:52 She's got it done, but probably not the fastest we've seen.

00:31:55 To wait for this next split, that's very good in nine.

00:31:58 Whipping it through, and she goes in 10.

00:32:01 Another tricky upstream.

00:32:04 Pretty solid.

00:32:05 - Good run so far for Kimberly Woods.

00:32:07 Now, she's done this course already four times,

00:32:11 so this is her fifth run on this course this week.

00:32:16 And of course, her third run,

00:32:19 I know, well, this is a new,

00:32:20 well, she's done this run twice for the K-1, of course.

00:32:23 - Yes, in the finals.

00:32:24 - With this gate placement.

00:32:25 - Yep.

00:32:26 Ooh, that was tight, but playing it safe.

00:32:30 She's looking, she's well in touch, so.

00:32:32 - Yeah.

00:32:33 - Putting together a pretty smart run here, I think.

00:32:36 - And the judges, again, having a review

00:32:37 that Brodie and I didn't see, gate number nine.

00:32:40 So, Claudia Zwolinski is the athlete

00:32:41 that is waiting now to see if she makes the final.

00:32:44 - Ooh, there it is, pretty good.

00:32:46 - That's the move.

00:32:47 - That was tight, that was nice.

00:32:48 - Yep, that's the move.

00:32:50 We're gonna have a new race leader here.

00:32:51 Kimberly Woods from Great Britain will go into the lead.

00:32:54 I think, yes, she will.

00:32:57 And look at that.

00:32:58 - Oh, yes, fired up.

00:32:59 - Ooh, look at that.

00:33:00 (laughs)

00:33:01 She is fired up.

00:33:02 - Let's go.

00:33:02 - Let's go, this is what they're looking at.

00:33:04 - What, ooh.

00:33:05 - Whoa.

00:33:07 - That's, ooh.

00:33:09 That is outrageously, outrageously close, isn't it?

00:33:14 - Oh, and the pole did not budge.

00:33:17 - Nothing budged.

00:33:18 - Did not budge.

00:33:19 - We've seen a few of those this weekend, haven't we?

00:33:21 Just millimeters.

00:33:22 - How good's the camera work, though?

00:33:23 Our camera people, they've been up since 4.30 this morning,

00:33:26 just training their eyes.

00:33:28 Just doing stuff, just staring at things,

00:33:30 getting ready for the big day.

00:33:32 - And it paid off there.

00:33:33 'Cause that was excellent camera work.

00:33:36 - And judge work, went straight into review.

00:33:38 Someone saw that.

00:33:39 - Somebody did.

00:33:40 - Unreal.

00:33:42 - So, Kimberly Woods, there's still,

00:33:45 the asterisk is still there.

00:33:47 - Yeah, that would be mean.

00:33:48 That would be mean to give her a two-second penalty there.

00:33:52 - Theresa Fisserova now.

00:33:55 Whoa, what a move.

00:33:57 - Yeah, taking on nine.

00:33:59 About as radical as you can do it,

00:34:01 but pulling it off, I think, very tight.

00:34:04 She's on a good run here.

00:34:05 - She's a two-time World Cup winner here in the C1.

00:34:09 Tokyo Olympian, of course, was for a long, long time

00:34:13 the biggest threat to Jessica Fox in the C1.

00:34:15 Just sort of dropped off a little bit

00:34:17 in the last season or so, since Tokyo.

00:34:19 - Yeah, she's been up there for a long time, hasn't she?

00:34:22 - Yep.

00:34:23 - You don't always expect her

00:34:24 to have a World Championship title,

00:34:26 but I'm sure she'll get back to those heights soon.

00:34:29 She's a very, very good C1 paddler.

00:34:31 - And so Kimberly Woods has been given the all-clear.

00:34:35 The judges did the right thing, I think.

00:34:39 Thumbs up from Brody and I to the judges.

00:34:41 So she is our race leader at the moment and into the final.

00:34:44 - This is quick, Ross.

00:34:45 This is very quick.

00:34:46 - This is our new race leader.

00:34:48 Kimberly Woods wasn't there for very long,

00:34:49 'cause look at this.

00:34:50 Theresa Fisserova has put down a statement.

00:34:53 - Wow.

00:34:54 - She has put down a statement there.

00:34:56 Again, another review going up for gate nine,

00:34:59 but she is more than four seconds quicker

00:35:04 than Kimberly Woods.

00:35:05 - Yeah, she really took the course on.

00:35:07 That was awesome.

00:35:08 - I think she heard you and I saying

00:35:09 that she's been a bit off her game in the past season or so

00:35:13 and wanted to prove you and I wrong,

00:35:15 as every paddler wants to.

00:35:17 - We want them to as well, Ross.

00:35:19 - Yep.

00:35:20 The general feeling around the course amongst the athletes

00:35:22 is let's make Ross and Brody look and sound stupid,

00:35:25 and they're doing a good job of it.

00:35:27 - Well done.

00:35:28 Unfortunately, it's not that hard.

00:35:31 - You need to set the bar a little bit higher, folks.

00:35:33 You need to find a better challenge in life.

00:35:35 Maybe that challenge should be going down the course

00:35:38 without touching any gates in super fast time.

00:35:41 Sonia Stanowska, the under 23 world champion.

00:35:47 The hundred, oh!

00:35:49 Theresa Fisserova has been given a 50.

00:35:54 - No, on that upstream, was it?

00:35:56 - On the upstream that I said was a good maneuver

00:35:59 and you said it was tight.

00:36:00 - Yeah, I thought it was okay.

00:36:01 That is just brutal.

00:36:03 - No, that is a game changer.

00:36:06 Theresa Fisserova, that gate-niner was, wow.

00:36:11 - So it's confirmed, Ross?

00:36:12 - It is confirmed.

00:36:14 It is confirmed.

00:36:15 Eagle Eye in the soundproof booth, Cedric Roger,

00:36:21 he's on his A game today.

00:36:24 He's brought his A game here.

00:36:26 He's across it all and spotted it.

00:36:29 50 second penalty for Theresa Fisserova

00:36:32 and that is not gonna impress her one bit.

00:36:36 - Yeah, that's a shame.

00:36:37 She was looking like she was paddling really well today.

00:36:39 I was looking forward to seeing her in the final,

00:36:41 but I'm sure the judge has got it right, so.

00:36:44 - There is the opportunity for,

00:36:45 there's a little tent just flapping about

00:36:49 in the breeze up there and it's got a little sign on it.

00:36:50 Not a very big sign,

00:36:51 just a little sign that says protest tent.

00:36:54 They don't want to advertise it too much.

00:36:56 - I think you'll see them up there.

00:36:56 - Yeah, I reckon the Czechs are pitching in that,

00:36:59 just outside there now.

00:37:00 So Sonia Stanislavska comes down,

00:37:01 unfortunately for Sonia, clean run,

00:37:03 but just lost too much time.

00:37:05 - She's not that far off qualifying, Ross.

00:37:08 Could be an outside chance.

00:37:09 - You reckon? - Three or four away.

00:37:11 - Okay, three away.

00:37:12 Well, Victoria Ullsen's through now.

00:37:15 So we have Woods, Fox, Fox in the Woods,

00:37:18 Neblova, Zolinska and Uss are all into the final.

00:37:22 And now Monika Doria-Villarubla is on the course,

00:37:28 hoping to make a, get through to another final

00:37:33 in the C1 for Monika.

00:37:35 - Yeah, she's starting, has made it easy for herself,

00:37:38 starting with an early touch on two.

00:37:40 - Yeah.

00:37:42 - The bow of the boat flying up there a bit uncontrolled

00:37:44 and copying the pole,

00:37:46 but she's been ultra consistent this year.

00:37:48 - There's another touch there as well,

00:37:50 so that's going to be tough.

00:37:51 - We've seen that signature lean forward

00:37:54 and arch the back there, haven't we?

00:37:55 - Oh, and another one there.

00:37:56 There's another one there.

00:37:57 So three touches already for Monika Doria-Villarubla.

00:38:02 We know she's fast,

00:38:03 but I don't know that she can make up six seconds.

00:38:05 - Let's see if she takes some risks here at the bottom.

00:38:07 She's going to have to if she wants any chance.

00:38:09 - What a great camera angle that is.

00:38:10 Look at the crowd there.

00:38:12 Just a little bit of dew on the feet this morning.

00:38:15 They'll be getting their wet socks

00:38:17 standing up there on the grass,

00:38:18 but they'll be loving the action,

00:38:19 enjoying seeing these women throw their canoes around

00:38:24 between the gates.

00:38:25 Certainly see-

00:38:27 - Oh!

00:38:28 - Monika going for an early swim.

00:38:31 - Losing the balance there on the outside of the boat.

00:38:35 - But not losing any points

00:38:37 because she managed to correct herself

00:38:39 and go through the gate.

00:38:40 But-

00:38:42 - Oh!

00:38:43 - A little bit of a French kissing in the USA on that-

00:38:47 - Oh!

00:38:48 - Oh, Monika!

00:38:50 - What is happening here?

00:38:51 - I think just trying to just send it there

00:38:53 in that last move.

00:38:54 - Yeah.

00:38:55 - Going a little wild.

00:38:57 - Holy guacamole.

00:38:58 - That's a shame because I think she was,

00:39:01 even with those touches,

00:39:02 she was putting together a rather mad challenge

00:39:04 for the final.

00:39:05 - Yeah, too.

00:39:07 No, that wasn't the run that she wanted though.

00:39:09 - So, Nuria Villarubla moves into the final as well.

00:39:13 Ken Marjorie Deleuze, another paddler who,

00:39:18 well, she was fourth in the Tokyo Olympics, Brodie.

00:39:21 And you don't come fourth in the Olympics

00:39:23 if you can't paddle.

00:39:24 - No.

00:39:25 She's the last of our French paddlers today, so-

00:39:27 - Yep.

00:39:28 - No one's qualified yet, although Lucy Priot is next.

00:39:31 Be good to get one locked in for the home crowd.

00:39:33 - Yep.

00:39:34 She's, on her day,

00:39:37 on her day, I've seen her,

00:39:38 I think it was in Tutson,

00:39:40 earlier this year, lay down a run,

00:39:42 which nobody could get close to,

00:39:44 you know, in a semi-final.

00:39:45 - Yeah, she can be ultra fast when she's on it.

00:39:49 - Starts running a bit ultra fast for us, 1.25 up.

00:39:52 Here's a little interesting scenario for you, Brodie,

00:39:54 and for folks at home.

00:39:55 No matter what happens here,

00:39:57 we'll have a French paddler in the final,

00:39:59 because it is Lucy Priot who is sitting right now

00:40:02 on the bubble, waiting to see if she'll get through.

00:40:04 So it'll either be Marjorie Deleuze or Lucy Priot,

00:40:08 who will go, oh!

00:40:10 - There's a touch.

00:40:11 - There goes the three-second leech,

00:40:13 she's made for herself, but still will be one second off.

00:40:17 - And there is a lot of wriggle room

00:40:19 in that top five at the moment, top six,

00:40:22 so she can afford the touch and still get through.

00:40:25 So it'll either be Deleuze, oh!

00:40:27 Deleuze or Priot, who get into the final

00:40:31 for the women's C1.

00:40:32 Oh, Lucy Priot could be the one.

00:40:35 Unless Marjorie Deleuze can really finish this move off.

00:40:39 - She just needs to finish the run,

00:40:41 still well within that final cutoff.

00:40:44 - Yep, the time is not too bad.

00:40:45 I think that she's looking at Priot's time is a 1.17,

00:40:49 so she should be well inside that.

00:40:51 - Yep, for sure.

00:40:52 - Marjorie Deleuze. - Oh, she's got it done.

00:40:54 - Yep, she will go straight into the final.

00:40:57 Great news for the French fans here.

00:40:59 Yep, just a nod of the head there saying thank you.

00:41:02 Thank you very much, thank you fans.

00:41:04 - Yeah, very good top half.

00:41:06 If she can sort that bottom half out,

00:41:08 she'll be very up there for the final.

00:41:11 - So just repeating the big news today,

00:41:15 that Teresa Fiserova, a former two-time World Cup winner,

00:41:20 a late 50 second penalty has put her out of the final.

00:41:24 That's the headline news right now.

00:41:26 As we see the teenager from Slovakia, Susana Pankova.

00:41:32 This is every time I see her on the water,

00:41:34 I just get excited about the future, Brody.

00:41:36 - Yeah, she's very impressive.

00:41:38 So young, already so good.

00:41:40 Picking up another, we've seen another touch on game two.

00:41:44 - Yeah. - Hard work of it.

00:41:46 - 2022 junior world champion,

00:41:48 2021 junior European champion.

00:41:51 She was fifth at the European championships this year,

00:41:53 so already as a teenager, she's made her mark on this sport.

00:41:57 Can she get through to a final?

00:41:59 It's Lucie Priot from France who is waiting nervously

00:42:02 to see what the outcome will be,

00:42:04 but it's a nice start here from Pankova.

00:42:08 - Yeah, this is looking really nice.

00:42:09 Let's see how she handles

00:42:11 perhaps the toughest move in the course, the 11, 12, 13.

00:42:14 She picks the wave up nicely, gets it done very good.

00:42:18 0.63 down, so well within that finals cutoff.

00:42:22 This is a very nice run coming together.

00:42:24 - Yeah, she just needs to, the bottom part here,

00:42:26 there's a couple of moves here

00:42:27 where a few paddlers have really come unstuck.

00:42:31 Pankova there, oh, a few people have hit that

00:42:33 with their back, but I think she was okay.

00:42:35 So just a second outside the split and that's fine.

00:42:40 She's got about five seconds to play with.

00:42:43 - Yeah, I think this is a very well measured run

00:42:46 for the semifinals.

00:42:47 It's very solid, nothing too specky.

00:42:50 - She's gonna go straight into the finals,

00:42:52 Suzanna Pankova.

00:42:53 - This is fast, very fast.

00:42:55 - Yeah, good run, good run.

00:42:56 Moves into second.

00:42:58 - Wow, with the two second penalty, we should say.

00:43:00 - Yeah, that's a good, fast, raw time.

00:43:03 - Yeah, you can take confidence into the final.

00:43:06 - The fastest raw time on the course so far

00:43:08 was set by, I think, Nuria Villarugla,

00:43:11 who's into the finals.

00:43:12 So let's see if she can eliminate those.

00:43:15 Ooh, I think I can give that a touch.

00:43:17 Oh, that was close for Eva Nikolaevna.

00:43:20 Always looks busy, doesn't she, on the course,

00:43:23 the way of her paddling style?

00:43:25 - Yeah, she loves to do a lot of strokes, very fast.

00:43:28 - Yep.

00:43:28 - Very quick across the flat water.

00:43:31 - Picked up a bronze at the Under-23 World Championships

00:43:34 this year, and a silver at the Tuckson World Cup

00:43:36 back in 2022, and she's fast already

00:43:39 at the top of the course.

00:43:40 So a nice, positive start for the young American.

00:43:43 - Yep, gets the green split.

00:43:45 It's always good to start your run.

00:43:46 See how she navigates this move.

00:43:47 Whoa, that's good, Ross.

00:43:49 Bo didn't stop across that stopper.

00:43:51 Haven't seen many paddlers do it that well today.

00:43:53 She goes into these upstream gates.

00:43:56 There's time in these ups as well.

00:43:57 - Yeah. - A little conservative, but...

00:44:00 - She probably can afford to be.

00:44:01 I mean, I'm sure she would know.

00:44:03 Word would have got through to her

00:44:04 that there is a lot of time to play with

00:44:07 on this course to make it through to the final.

00:44:09 - Yeah, that's true.

00:44:10 - Oh, look at that.

00:44:11 She's well up now, Brody.

00:44:12 - Yeah, that's a very healthy split.

00:44:15 This is looking very good from Liepard here.

00:44:18 And that's very true, Ross.

00:44:19 You've got to really come with a game plan.

00:44:21 You don't have to do anything too crazy in the semifinal

00:44:24 if you know you've sort of got the pace

00:44:25 to do something solid and progress.

00:44:28 - Oh, leave a bit of petrol in the tank for the final.

00:44:32 This has been a very good run here from Evie Liepard.

00:44:36 She's still up on the split now, this move here.

00:44:39 Nice. - Very good.

00:44:41 - Excellent work.

00:44:43 - Good challenge for the lead

00:44:43 if she can nail this last upstream.

00:44:45 - We could, yep.

00:44:46 And ooh. - Pretty solid.

00:44:49 - We're going to have a new race leader.

00:44:50 1.10 is the time set by Kimberly Woods.

00:44:53 It's going to be just outside that, I think,

00:44:55 but she's certainly going to go straight into the final.

00:44:58 There she goes into second position.

00:45:01 - Very well raced.

00:45:03 - She'd be pretty happy with that result there.

00:45:05 So into the final now.

00:45:07 Mallory Franklin, the Olympic silver medalist,

00:45:12 the reigning world champion.

00:45:13 What a moment that was in Lee Valley just a fortnight ago

00:45:16 when in front of her home fans,

00:45:20 she managed to win the gold medal and win her--

00:45:23 - Oh, that was such a good race, wasn't it?

00:45:24 - It was such a good race.

00:45:25 - The girls just, they threw down.

00:45:27 It was a pleasure to watch.

00:45:29 So competitive.

00:45:31 She's always, always up there

00:45:32 and always super composed, her, always very calm.

00:45:35 - Yep.

00:45:36 - Don't see too much emotion from Mallory,

00:45:38 just always within herself and paddles very consistently.

00:45:43 - She's a course 2017 world champion

00:45:46 to go with her world championship title of this year.

00:45:48 She's a former under 23 world champion as well.

00:45:51 And as I said, she is the reigning

00:45:53 Olympic silver medalist.

00:45:55 Interesting scenario for the British selectors, Brodie,

00:45:57 with the team that they ended up deciding to take.

00:46:00 - Yeah, they've got some good problems to have,

00:46:02 you could say.

00:46:03 - Well, yeah.

00:46:04 - So much quality.

00:46:05 - Franklin was the fastest in the C1 and the K1

00:46:07 in Lee Valley, so I don't know whether,

00:46:09 but I don't know, I've not heard

00:46:10 whether she wants to do both.

00:46:13 If she does, then--

00:46:14 - I'm sure she does.

00:46:14 - Well, that's gonna make it interesting for the selectors

00:46:17 'cause I mean, they've got Kimberley Woods.

00:46:18 Oh, where are you going, Mallory?

00:46:20 Where are you going?

00:46:21 She didn't put her indicators on.

00:46:23 - Yeah.

00:46:23 - And--

00:46:24 - She's got plenty of time up her sleeve,

00:46:26 but definitely lost some time there,

00:46:28 probably a couple of seconds.

00:46:29 So it needs to finish solidly here to progress.

00:46:34 - So still waiting on the bubble

00:46:35 is the French paddler, Lucie Brio,

00:46:37 and it's getting to nervous moments for her

00:46:39 because the only paddlers left to come

00:46:42 are pretty high quality.

00:46:43 And you might be relying on Jessica Fox

00:46:46 to stuff things up here in the final,

00:46:47 and I wouldn't be doing that.

00:46:49 - Oh, so good there from Mallory.

00:46:51 That's sealed the deal.

00:46:52 - Yep, one more gate to go.

00:46:53 - So Mallory, she won't be the race leader,

00:46:55 but she will go into the final.

00:46:57 Mallory Franklin into sixth position,

00:47:01 and you would think she's got a couple of seconds

00:47:03 to make up on that run, Brodie.

00:47:05 - Yeah, absolutely.

00:47:06 There's plenty of a take there for Mallory.

00:47:08 - All right, so now, well, what more can we say

00:47:11 about this young lady, Jessica Fox?

00:47:13 Already she's had a crack at--

00:47:15 Oh, she loves getting those early touches, doesn't she?

00:47:18 - She loves keeping us on our toes.

00:47:20 I mean, seriously, the amount of times,

00:47:23 I would like to go back and crunch the numbers

00:47:26 and see the amount of times when she's had gate touches

00:47:28 where it's come at the top of the course.

00:47:31 - Yeah, she's had a few, but she always paddles,

00:47:33 I think, the track record, she paddles pretty well

00:47:36 when she does touch them early, Ross, so.

00:47:37 - I've got a feeling, I reckon she does it

00:47:39 a bit deliberately to focus the mind,

00:47:41 so she doesn't start daydreaming

00:47:43 halfway down the course, thinking about--

00:47:45 - She loves, yeah, I don't think she needs to touch a gate,

00:47:49 but she loves to have that fire in her belly,

00:47:52 light that fire and really, really take on the course.

00:47:56 - She is, of course, the reigning Olympic champion.

00:47:59 She is miles ahead this year

00:48:01 in the World Cup standings overall.

00:48:04 If she makes it through to the final,

00:48:05 I think she's almost sealed the deal

00:48:07 for the overall World Cup champion.

00:48:10 And look at that, even with a touch,

00:48:12 even with a touch, she is the fastest on the course.

00:48:16 - Wow, yeah, making light work of that 11, 12, 13.

00:48:19 Stagger there, so this is looking very nice.

00:48:22 I think she'll probably still be up on this next split,

00:48:24 but a couple of tough moves to come.

00:48:26 Let's see how she goes here.

00:48:27 Looks pretty solid. - Yeah, look at that.

00:48:31 I must say, she's looking a little bit tired.

00:48:33 She told me yesterday she was feeling exhausted,

00:48:35 so look at that, though.

00:48:38 Look at that, just smooth, just--

00:48:41 Other athletes might've got into big trouble there

00:48:43 and found--

00:48:44 - Ooh! - Ooh!

00:48:45 - Ooh! - No worries.

00:48:48 No worries at all.

00:48:50 - Staying more calmly collected there.

00:48:52 - Little bit of extra work for herself,

00:48:54 but no problems here.

00:48:55 Jessica Fox will go into the final.

00:48:58 Yeah, wasn't her greatest run,

00:49:02 but that's all she had to do to get through,

00:49:04 because that's when the serious stuff happens.

00:49:06 Now, the final paddler on the course,

00:49:09 and gee, how good was she?

00:49:10 - Far out, she was so fast, Ross.

00:49:12 - On her first run yesterday, oh!

00:49:14 - Welcome to this gate, too.

00:49:16 Stop it, stop it, you guys.

00:49:17 - What's going on?

00:49:19 Yeah, I think she had a two and a half second lead

00:49:21 in the end over the next person, over Jess Fox,

00:49:24 so really impressive heath run.

00:49:25 - Just such a strong paddler,

00:49:29 Gabi Satkova from the Czech Republic.

00:49:32 And at the moment where we saw her teammate,

00:49:34 Teresa Fizerova, get that late 50 second penalty,

00:49:38 so Teresa Neblova is in the final, though,

00:49:41 so there is already a check there.

00:49:43 No, I can also confirm for you, Brody,

00:49:46 this race has no impact on their overall selection.

00:49:50 - Okay, so that extra pressure isn't there,

00:49:53 which is probably a good thing.

00:49:54 - Yeah, but they won't be deciding their final team

00:49:57 till the middle of next year,

00:49:59 so really interesting, wow, selection process for the Czechs.

00:50:02 But this has been a nice run.

00:50:05 Gee, she looks good on the water, doesn't she?

00:50:06 Just looks like a well-oiled machine.

00:50:09 - Yeah, she's looking very, very within herself,

00:50:13 and, oh, that's so good there, 11, 12, 13.

00:50:16 I'll tell you what, Lucy Prio has been on the bubble,

00:50:18 I think, for the last 10 paddlers.

00:50:20 - Yeah, and I hate to say this, Lucy,

00:50:22 but I think you can start wiping the boat down

00:50:25 and put it in the shed,

00:50:27 because unless something dramatic happens here,

00:50:30 Gabi Satkova on this time, yeah,

00:50:33 she's up on the split with a touch.

00:50:36 She's up on the split.

00:50:37 - She's in good form this weekend.

00:50:38 - Yep.

00:50:39 - She'll take a lot of confidence into this final

00:50:41 if she can, oh, look at this, beautiful.

00:50:43 - Whoa, two-second penalty, won't matter, though.

00:50:46 Look at this time.

00:50:48 She could, no, is she gonna be our new race leader?

00:50:51 It's gonna be close.

00:50:52 Just into second with four seconds of penalties.

00:50:58 - She's happy with that.

00:50:59 - Four seconds of penalties, so a raw time.

00:51:01 - Four seconds, whoa.

00:51:02 - A raw time of 106.86.

00:51:06 - Wow. - Yeah, she means business.

00:51:08 - She does.

00:51:10 Jessica Fox, if you thought you had this title sewn up,

00:51:14 Gabi Satkova and Kimberly Woods and Evie Lieber fans,

00:51:18 I mean, this is some young guns in this final.

00:51:21 - Yeah, they're going down fighting today,

00:51:22 aren't they, Ross, they're ready.

00:51:23 - Really, really are.

00:51:25 Wow, already I'm excited for this women's C1 final.

00:51:30 12 athletes, the best 12 athletes here.

00:51:32 Naomi Fox is there.

00:51:34 - She'll be racing, but she's happy about that.

00:51:36 - She is, yep, Jessica Fox is there,

00:51:38 Mallory Franklin is there.

00:51:40 - There we are, confirmation, look at that,

00:51:41 Woods, Satkova, Liebfarth, Pankova, Fox, Fox,

00:51:46 Neblova, Franklin, that's your top eight,

00:51:50 and then you've got Della Soos, Zwolinska,

00:51:53 Uus and Villaruba, look at that,

00:51:55 six seconds of penalties for Nuriya Villaruba,

00:51:58 but she sneaks into the final, she won't believe it.

00:52:01 She would not believe her luck.

00:52:02 - Fast run, it paid off, the raw time was good.

00:52:04 - Look at Tereza Fizarova's 50 second penalty,

00:52:07 look at her raw time, holy moly,

00:52:08 that was cruel for Tereza Fizarova.

00:52:12 Maybe we'll see in this highlight,

00:52:14 who wins that. - I'd like to see

00:52:15 that upstream again, that was very tough.

00:52:17 - Yep, and the day when Naomi Fox is smiling

00:52:20 is a good day because, so we know,

00:52:22 oh, look at that, the hair. - The hair touch.

00:52:24 - The hair touch for Alexandra Stuck.

00:52:25 - That pole did not move.

00:52:27 - Nope, that was mean, and here we go,

00:52:30 how's your morning been, Gaten?

00:52:32 - Oh, look at that, that's a good shot, that one,

00:52:35 far out, there you go.

00:52:37 - I don't think the judges had to ponder

00:52:38 that one for too long. - No.

00:52:40 - That was definitely a deliberate move,

00:52:42 and that is a 50 second penalty.

00:52:44 So, Brodie, thanks mate for coming in.

00:52:47 - Pleasure. - And helping us through.

00:52:49 And we may, well, we're gonna see you on the water

00:52:53 this afternoon and tomorrow for the kayak cross,

00:52:55 so best of luck with that, we hope to be able

00:52:57 to call you in the finals.

00:52:59 If not, I know the fans would love to have you in the end.

00:53:01 - Yeah, do you want me back and see you on final, or?

00:53:03 - Yeah, why not? - Why not, let's do it.

00:53:05 - Why not, do you wanna do it?

00:53:06 - Yeah, mate.

00:53:07 - Listeners at home, do you want him back?

00:53:09 Listen to them, yeah, bring Brodie back, we want Brodie.

00:53:12 Okay, the fans have said it, they want you back,

00:53:15 so we'll see you for the C1 final.

00:53:18 - All right, thank you. - Thank you, mate.

00:53:19 - See you soon.

00:53:20 - Brodie Crawford there, helping me out

00:53:23 with the women's C1 semifinals.

00:53:26 He'll be back, folks, for you Brodie Crawford fans at home,

00:53:28 and I know there's a lot of you, he's getting t-shirts made.

00:53:31 Can you believe it, he's getting t-shirts made

00:53:34 for the Brodie Crawford fan club,

00:53:36 and I'll let you know later on how you can get ahold

00:53:37 of those, but now we need to turn our attention

00:53:42 to the men's K1 semifinals, and wow,

00:53:48 this is gonna be really, really interesting.

00:53:52 24 paddlers here, just 12 will go through to the semifinal,

00:53:57 and it's an absolute smorgasbord of talent lining up.

00:54:04 We've got Olympic champions, we've got world champions,

00:54:07 we have got the very, very best kayak paddlers in the world.

00:54:11 Well, most of them.

00:54:13 One who's not there, but who's sitting here alongside me

00:54:16 is Fredrik Wallen from Sweden, and Fredrik,

00:54:19 good to have you in the commentary box again.

00:54:20 - Thank you, good to be back.

00:54:22 - Well, and I know you'd prefer to be out there.

00:54:24 - Of course.

00:54:25 - It was a tough day yesterday, though.

00:54:26 - Yeah, yesterday was tough, but yeah,

00:54:29 my worst race this season, but yeah, it can happen.

00:54:32 - It's been a long season, though, Fredrik.

00:54:34 We've been talking about it, a lot of people,

00:54:36 a lot of the athletes are saying how tired

00:54:37 they're feeling now after a really, really long season

00:54:40 with the excitement of the world championships

00:54:43 a couple of weeks ago.

00:54:44 - Yeah, it has been hard to refocus, I think,

00:54:48 and I'm very tired in my body,

00:54:50 so some rest after this cross race.

00:54:53 - And then get back and get into that

00:54:54 qualification process for Paris next year.

00:54:58 So let's have a look at the lineup.

00:55:00 As I mentioned, there's some big names here,

00:55:02 and there'll be some very interesting racing

00:55:05 for the top 12.

00:55:06 A couple of paddlers needing second runs yesterday.

00:55:09 In fact, it was quite incredible,

00:55:10 the number of the top athletes who got 50 second penalties

00:55:14 on their first run and had to come through

00:55:17 on the second run to get into today's semifinal,

00:55:21 and we'll see them going off pretty early today.

00:55:23 But let's have a look at the first man on the course.

00:55:26 It is Dimitri Marks, who is definitely, if not the,

00:55:33 he's one of the top kayak cross paddlers

00:55:35 in the world this year,

00:55:37 and Frederik trying to get himself into a K1 semifinal.

00:55:41 A final, sorry.

00:55:41 - Yeah, yeah, he did very well to make it,

00:55:44 and he's really good in slalom as well.

00:55:46 We know he can do fast run.

00:55:48 He's a big, strong guy, and yeah, really kind guy as well,

00:55:53 so I hope him the best for this run.

00:55:56 - Yeah, no, he's a genuinely nice, nice guy,

00:55:58 and loves paddling, loves getting out there

00:56:01 and getting amongst it, so let's see if he can put down

00:56:05 a good time early on.

00:56:06 We just saw in the women's C1, there are some,

00:56:08 as we saw yesterday, Frederik,

00:56:10 and you've been on the course,

00:56:11 there are some very tricky spots.

00:56:13 - Yeah, it's a very tricky course.

00:56:14 I really enjoy the tricksy courses,

00:56:17 like it has been very open courses earlier,

00:56:20 and this was harder.

00:56:22 It's good.

00:56:23 We need to see how we're doing in the hard courses as well.

00:56:28 - So, Dimitri Marks is underway.

00:56:32 As I mentioned, there are 24 paddlers here,

00:56:34 and 12 will go through.

00:56:36 Ooh.

00:56:37 - He's going for the direct, and oh.

00:56:39 (sighing)

00:56:41 - There's a two-second penalty there for Dimitri Marks.

00:56:44 Yes, 12 paddlers.

00:56:44 Now, the reason, if you're sitting at home thinking,

00:56:46 "Why are there 12 in the final?

00:56:47 "Normally there's only 10."

00:56:49 Yes, you're correct, but next year in Paris,

00:56:52 at the Olympics, we will be having 12 in the finals.

00:56:55 It's a new direction that we're going in,

00:56:58 and just giving an opportunity for a couple of more paddlers

00:57:00 to experience racing in an Olympic final.

00:57:04 I think it's a great move,

00:57:06 and it's gonna provide a lot more excitement,

00:57:09 I think, for the fans.

00:57:10 - Yeah, that'll be very good,

00:57:12 and he's going for direct here again.

00:57:15 We'll see.

00:57:16 It's interesting to see how all the boys will do now,

00:57:19 the rest.

00:57:20 I think the first move, going direct, was very risky,

00:57:24 but yeah.

00:57:26 - Well, we know he's definitely got there reviewing it,

00:57:28 so I'm not sure if they're thinking it might've been a 50,

00:57:30 but it looked, it was definitely a touch.

00:57:33 Whether, ooh, that's tight.

00:57:35 - That's tight, I think.

00:57:36 - They've given him a 50 straight up for that one.

00:57:40 Let's have a look at his reaction.

00:57:41 What the hell he says.

00:57:42 - Yeah.

00:57:43 - Sacre bleu.

00:57:44 - That's not a...

00:57:46 - That's not a, anyway, the judges are in a good spot.

00:57:48 They will review it, Frederik, won't they?

00:57:49 - Yeah, they will,

00:57:50 but that was very tight line from the last gate,

00:57:55 and yeah, didn't have the speed over.

00:57:57 - Now Mario Lattner.

00:57:59 - Austria.

00:58:01 - Here from Austria, a speed machine.

00:58:04 - Yeah.

00:58:05 He has done some finals, and yeah,

00:58:08 he was in the final, semi-final in the world championship,

00:58:12 so we'll see if he can put down a good run now.

00:58:16 - He got a fourth in La Salle at our last World Cup.

00:58:19 - Yeah, so he's in good shape.

00:58:23 - He's also good in the kayak cross as well.

00:58:25 - Yeah, I'm not sure what the state of play is

00:58:27 with Austrian team selection for Tokyo.

00:58:30 Of course, Felix Oshmach is also a very, very fast paddler,

00:58:35 so there'll be an interesting competition going on.

00:58:37 - Ooh, going for the spin, very nice there.

00:58:40 Get a hold up there.

00:58:41 Yeah, I think from what I've heard is that

00:58:45 they will continue their selection next year in Totsen

00:58:49 for the Olympics, so I think, yeah,

00:58:52 that's what I've heard at least.

00:58:54 - Okay.

00:58:55 - It's unofficial.

00:58:56 - Yes, well, it's so hard to keep across

00:58:58 what every country is doing,

00:59:00 because so many are doing different things.

00:59:03 Ooh, that was nice.

00:59:05 Ooh, yes, good move.

00:59:07 What's happening with Sweden?

00:59:10 Frederik, what's the selection process there?

00:59:12 - I guess it depends a bit how the kayak cross goes tomorrow,

00:59:16 but looks like it can go on for next season as well.

00:59:19 We will have Totsen and the first two World Cups.

00:59:22 - Wow.

00:59:23 - So, yeah.

00:59:24 - Preparing for next year.

00:59:25 - Yeah.

00:59:26 - That was very fast of Mario as well.

00:59:28 - Yes, he's traveling very nicely at the moment.

00:59:31 Needs to stay clean. - Bit slow there.

00:59:34 But, yeah, much better exit than Deeming.

00:59:37 And, yeah, he will have a first time on the board, clean.

00:59:41 - 93.89, so that's a good time for Mario,

00:59:46 which suggests that probably the best paddlers

00:59:50 will be looking at around a 90.

00:59:52 Frederik, do you think for this, for the kayak?

00:59:55 - Yeah, he got a little bit holed up in the wave

00:59:58 and last upstream wasn't perfect,

01:00:00 so I'm sure they can go a bit faster.

01:00:03 But I think overall that was a good run.

01:00:05 - Yeah.

01:00:06 And in the men's canoe final,

01:00:07 Raffaele Veldi won that with a 95.5,

01:00:10 so that was the canoe.

01:00:12 So kayak, obviously, you would expect it to be

01:00:15 quite a bit faster.

01:00:15 - Yeah, it's fast.

01:00:17 - So we have now Martin Dugud from Switzerland.

01:00:20 - Yeah, fourth place at the World Championship

01:00:24 in London just two weeks ago.

01:00:25 So he's definitely in good shape

01:00:28 and he has been here training a lot.

01:00:31 So this is one to watch.

01:00:35 - He's really been paddling well.

01:00:36 His kayak cross is really strong at the moment,

01:00:38 as you would expect, all the Swiss

01:00:40 just stuck a little bit there.

01:00:41 - Yeah, also going for the direct.

01:00:43 I was watching the course. - Oh!

01:00:46 - I think I would not have gone for the direct

01:00:49 if I was watching.

01:00:51 - Yeah.

01:00:52 Too many risks involved if you go in the wrong angle

01:00:56 by the look of things.

01:00:57 - Yeah, I think if you go in for the spin,

01:00:59 you can attack it a bit more

01:01:01 and you have a bit more margin.

01:01:03 Yeah, I think.

01:01:04 - There would have been a touch there.

01:01:05 Yes, there was, so.

01:01:07 - Yeah.

01:01:08 I think this, yeah, is well off now.

01:01:11 I think that, yeah.

01:01:13 - Oh, yeah, there we go.

01:01:14 Okay, and the problem is, isn't it, Frederik,

01:01:16 if you get into trouble early, make a mistake early,

01:01:18 you sort of mentally, you think,

01:01:20 "I need to make up time on the course,"

01:01:23 and you start taking risks.

01:01:24 And this, to me, seems like a course that,

01:01:26 well, you can take risks,

01:01:29 but, gee, it's easy to make a big mistake.

01:01:32 - Yeah, I think especially where Martin

01:01:34 went for the direct move,

01:01:35 I think that is the key move to make good.

01:01:38 There's a lot of tricksy stuff going on in the course,

01:01:43 but that is definitely the one to make sure you do good.

01:01:48 The rest is...

01:01:49 - Yeah, unfortunately for Martin Duguid,

01:01:53 I don't think that's gonna be good enough for him.

01:01:57 1.02, you would think that'd be at least 10 seconds

01:02:01 off the pace he needs to get through to the final, so.

01:02:05 Tough result there for Martin Duguid,

01:02:09 as Frederik said, fourth in Lee Valley,

01:02:11 so he was coming here in good form.

01:02:13 - And here we have Martin Strabotnik from Slovenia,

01:02:17 and he's one guy that really paddled nice

01:02:21 and smooth on the water, and yeah, like his style a lot.

01:02:25 - He got a silver in the World Cup back in 2022,

01:02:28 so we know he's capable,

01:02:32 but those medal-winning runs

01:02:36 probably don't come often enough for Martin Strabotnik.

01:02:38 Can he... - Yes, that was very, very nice.

01:02:41 - Ooh. - Yeah, that's...

01:02:43 - He went for the spin, and yeah,

01:02:45 got a lot of speed over and didn't get stuck, so that's...

01:02:49 Yeah, very fast. - So just for you at home,

01:02:53 giving you an update on where we are

01:02:54 with the overall World Cup standings,

01:02:56 and this is incredibly close.

01:02:58 We have Witt Prindis at the moment, overall leader 194,

01:03:02 Giovanni Degginero, 193, so just one point

01:03:06 between Prindis and Degginero,

01:03:08 and they're both racing here today.

01:03:10 Joe Clark sitting in third with 173,

01:03:13 then Yuri Pristovic with 170, so ooh.

01:03:18 - And that was good, I think.

01:03:21 - Yeah, so it's really tight.

01:03:23 The race for overall World Cup title holder

01:03:26 is wide open here today,

01:03:28 so we'll just see who makes it through to the final,

01:03:30 and ooh, maybe just losing a little bit there

01:03:35 for Strabotnik. - Yeah, I think that was,

01:03:38 yeah, his one big mistake in this run,

01:03:41 and it cost him a lot, I think.

01:03:42 He was very close on the split, like 0.8,

01:03:46 and now he's 2.6 after, so he lost a lot there

01:03:50 in the last combination.

01:03:52 - Yeah, not sure that that's gonna be good enough.

01:03:55 - No. - Wow, this is exciting.

01:03:58 Young man from the United States, Joshua Joseph,

01:04:00 22 years of age, and here he is,

01:04:03 paddling to get into a World Cup final.

01:04:07 - Yeah, strong guy, always pushing and going for it.

01:04:11 He never leaves anything out there,

01:04:12 so we'll see how he'll go.

01:04:16 He definitely has important races coming up,

01:04:20 fighting for the Olympics,

01:04:21 but at the Pan American Games next year.

01:04:25 - Yes, that's right, 22 years of age,

01:04:28 so still an exciting future.

01:04:29 I'm sure that he would love to be in Paris next year,

01:04:33 but he certainly wants to be at his very, very best

01:04:35 four years later when the Olympics are in Los Angeles.

01:04:38 - Yeah, going for the spin. - Nice move.

01:04:40 - Yes, very good.

01:04:42 He didn't get holed up and keep the boot moving.

01:04:45 Yeah, this is very good looking.

01:04:48 - Whoa, what a move.

01:04:50 - Wow. - Yeah, all in.

01:04:52 - He's really throwing it out there.

01:04:53 He's got nothing to lose, and look at this.

01:04:56 He is-- - He's good.

01:04:58 - He's really making his kayak work for him.

01:05:02 - Oh no, no, no, no. - Oh no, no, no.

01:05:04 - No, there we go.

01:05:06 That's what we were talking about.

01:05:07 You can take the risks, but if it doesn't come off,

01:05:11 and gee, his time was so good up until that move there.

01:05:14 - Yeah, he wasn't a good run,

01:05:17 but maybe he was going a bit too hard

01:05:20 and didn't have the margin where you need the margin

01:05:23 to be on your side.

01:05:24 - Yeah, so he missed two gates there.

01:05:26 That's disappointing there for Joshua Joseph,

01:05:28 but he really was throwing it out there.

01:05:32 As you said, Frederik, he's a sort of paddler

01:05:34 who never leaves anything out there.

01:05:36 - No, I mean, his first part of the course was really good,

01:05:39 so yeah, too bad with the mistake that cost him big time.

01:05:44 - Yeah, but we'll see much more of this young man

01:05:48 from the United States, Joshua Joseph.

01:05:50 As Frederik said, Pan America's next year.

01:05:52 It's all gonna come down to that,

01:05:53 so selection for the US team for the Olympics.

01:05:57 - Yeah.

01:05:58 - Now you can hear the crowd getting excited

01:06:01 because their man is on the course.

01:06:04 Boris Nouveau, by the way, did not make it.

01:06:07 - Surprisingly.

01:06:08 - It was one of the big surprises,

01:06:10 and I don't know, Frederik,

01:06:11 how that plays out for French selection,

01:06:14 because I think this is the final selection race.

01:06:17 - Yeah, it is.

01:06:19 - I don't know whether that means

01:06:20 that Nouveau is now out of the picture

01:06:22 or whether he has enough points locked away already.

01:06:25 It's an interesting situation,

01:06:27 but Benjamin Regnier, I'm sure.

01:06:29 - Ooh, up 1.2.

01:06:32 - Benjamin Regnier, I'm sure,

01:06:33 will be wanting to take advantage

01:06:34 of the absence of his teammate.

01:06:37 - Bit conservative there, but yeah, clean.

01:06:40 That's very important.

01:06:42 Yeah, I think Boris' only chance now

01:06:44 is to go really hard in the kayak crossing and do well.

01:06:47 - Yeah.

01:06:49 - But yeah, I think everyone has a chance

01:06:51 in the French team, so that's very nice.

01:06:55 - So listen to that crowd.

01:06:57 They are really getting behind their man,

01:06:59 and the split time is good.

01:07:00 - Oh, that is very fast.

01:07:03 - Benjamin Regnier, the crowd will be lifting him.

01:07:05 He really wants to nail this finish now,

01:07:07 get himself into a position

01:07:09 where he can challenge for a place in the final.

01:07:12 - Going for a spin here as well.

01:07:13 Good, staying clean, staying fast.

01:07:18 - Oh, he's two seconds up.

01:07:20 - Oh, that's also very good.

01:07:21 He's on a really good run.

01:07:22 I think if he nailed this, he can be in the final.

01:07:25 - This is our first man who's gonna go

01:07:28 very close to the 90 second.

01:07:30 - Yeah, in this go, yeah.

01:07:32 - So Benjamin Regnier, he will go into the lead.

01:07:36 And is that gonna be enough?

01:07:38 He's pretty happy with it.

01:07:40 - Yeah, I think that's in the final, I think.

01:07:43 - You're calling it?

01:07:44 - Yeah, that's in the final.

01:07:45 - All right, there you have it.

01:07:47 Frederic Oylen calling it early,

01:07:48 and Benjamin Regnier will be in the final.

01:07:50 Those French fans, I think, agree with you.

01:07:53 - Yeah.

01:07:54 - Very knowledgeable crowd here.

01:07:55 - Yeah, the fans are great out there,

01:07:57 cheering for, especially the French, but for everyone.

01:08:00 You can really hear them on the water.

01:08:02 That's very cool.

01:08:03 - So Chris Bowers is on the course.

01:08:07 First of a couple of Brits.

01:08:10 Of course, for Chris, always gives it his all out there,

01:08:15 but races for so long in the shadows

01:08:17 of the great Joe Clark.

01:08:18 - Yeah.

01:08:19 - But I'm sure that Chris wants to

01:08:21 make a mark for himself today.

01:08:23 - Yeah, I think he has done some really good results

01:08:27 in the past, and this year maybe hasn't gone his way.

01:08:30 I'm not really sure if he would agree,

01:08:32 but I think, yeah, he can do really good stuff on the water,

01:08:36 but I think he's had some trouble this year.

01:08:39 So hopefully today could be his day.

01:08:42 - He would dearly love to make a final.

01:08:45 Yeah, it might be a foregone conclusion

01:08:48 in terms of British team selection.

01:08:49 You would find it very hard to dislodge Joe Clark.

01:08:52 - Yeah, that would.

01:08:53 - But I'm sure that he would love to give the selectors

01:08:56 just something to think about.

01:08:57 - Yeah, definitely.

01:08:58 And especially for himself as well,

01:09:01 to put down a good run and be happy.

01:09:04 Like this is the last race of the season.

01:09:06 You always want to finish with a good feeling.

01:09:09 - He does have age on his side.

01:09:10 I mean, Joe Clark is certainly not old,

01:09:13 but Chris Bowers does have a couple of years on him,

01:09:16 so I'm sure that he's just biding his time at the moment.

01:09:20 But this has been a pretty decent run.

01:09:22 - Yeah, if he can keep this together,

01:09:26 yeah, it could be close to what Mario did, I guess.

01:09:30 And that's-

01:09:30 - Oh!

01:09:31 Two second penalty there for Bowers.

01:09:36 Is that going to be a game changer?

01:09:37 I think so.

01:09:38 Unfortunately, it's going to be that tight

01:09:41 that I think two seconds, Frederik,

01:09:43 could make a big difference.

01:09:45 - Yeah, that touch cost him.

01:09:47 We will see.

01:09:49 He's currently on third position, so.

01:09:52 Maybe he will be just outside or just inside.

01:09:56 He's in the bubble.

01:09:58 - Lucien Delfort, the Australian speed machine.

01:10:01 He is out and having a crack,

01:10:04 and I tell you what, I reckon the French fans,

01:10:06 they will adopt him as their own as well,

01:10:08 because, of course, born in French territory.

01:10:13 - Yeah, yes.

01:10:15 Yeah, sorry.

01:10:17 - But racing for Australia

01:10:19 and been to a couple of Olympics now.

01:10:21 - Yeah, I think he's been to two Olympics now.

01:10:24 - Yes.

01:10:25 - And yeah, I don't know exactly the Australian policy,

01:10:28 but I guess they go home to fight it in the Australian-

01:10:33 - In the Australian Open.

01:10:35 - Yeah, exactly.

01:10:35 - Next year, there's a few races that all go together.

01:10:38 I think Jess Fox is safely locked away.

01:10:40 - Yeah.

01:10:41 - Just with her wins at World Championships, et cetera.

01:10:45 It's enough for her to lock that position.

01:10:47 But there is pretty keen competition,

01:10:50 especially for the Australians,

01:10:51 but Tim Anderson has really come forward.

01:10:53 - Oh, he's on a, like, these two upstream

01:10:55 was very beautiful and really fast,

01:10:58 and he's make up sometimes.

01:11:00 Oh yeah, that's okay.

01:11:01 - So Lucien Delfort.

01:11:04 - Losing a bit of speed in there, but,

01:11:06 oh, was that a touch?

01:11:08 No, it was just water.

01:11:10 Oh, losing.

01:11:13 - Well done, gee, that was a great recovery.

01:11:16 - That was a really good recovery.

01:11:17 He lost the wave a bit.

01:11:18 - Yeah.

01:11:19 So he's close enough.

01:11:20 Ooh, that was okay as well.

01:11:22 Wow, he's pretty-

01:11:23 - He's very tight on the gates,

01:11:25 but he's making, ooh, that's also very good.

01:11:28 - That's the move.

01:11:29 That's the move we've been waiting for.

01:11:31 So here we go.

01:11:32 Could we have a new race leader here?

01:11:33 Lucien Delfort is gonna be close.

01:11:35 He's gonna be just outside.

01:11:37 - Very good run.

01:11:38 - But he moves into second,

01:11:40 and well, you'd have to think, Frederic,

01:11:42 that he's just, what, 0.26 of a second.

01:11:45 That would have to be very close to being good enough.

01:11:48 - Yes, I think so.

01:11:49 Yeah, that was a very good run.

01:11:51 - And I can't emphasize the importance here.

01:11:53 For the first time, probably, in his career,

01:11:57 he's been seriously challenged

01:11:59 for the Australian team selection by Tim Anderson,

01:12:01 who we will see a little bit later on this morning,

01:12:04 because he's set an incredible time in the heats.

01:12:09 - Yeah.

01:12:10 - So, but that's to come,

01:12:11 'cause at the moment now,

01:12:12 we've got the Polish paddler, Dariusz Popera.

01:12:14 - Yes, going strong, and yeah,

01:12:19 don't know much about their policy for the Olympics,

01:12:24 but definitely good to see him in the semifinal.

01:12:27 He's the only Polish, I think, in the semis.

01:12:32 - Yeah, I think that's right.

01:12:34 And of course, Dariusz has been around for a long time.

01:12:37 I think 2008.

01:12:38 - Yeah.

01:12:39 - He was eighth way back in 2008 at the Olympics.

01:12:43 So he's been around for many, many years

01:12:47 and would love to get to another Olympic Games.

01:12:49 - Yes, definitely.

01:12:50 And the Polish team is a very strong team,

01:12:54 so whatever the policy is,

01:12:56 it will be a tough fight to get the spot for them.

01:12:59 - Good run so far.

01:13:01 Nice and clean, and he's in touch.

01:13:03 Oh, definitely a two-second penalty there,

01:13:09 but what about that gate before?

01:13:10 Was it okay?

01:13:11 - Yeah, I think so, but definitely a touch,

01:13:14 and lost a bit of time getting hold up there.

01:13:17 So now again, risking too much maybe.

01:13:22 - What we're seeing, Frederik, is if you lose your line,

01:13:25 it makes things very challenging, doesn't it?

01:13:27 - Yeah, it's a problem when you start losing your line.

01:13:31 It's hard to come back on it.

01:13:33 You just keep, like, you just move on.

01:13:39 - So he's going to be a little bit outside, unfortunately,

01:13:41 for Darius, just losing his way a little bit there

01:13:44 in the middle of the course.

01:13:45 - Yeah, it's a very tricky combination where he lost it.

01:13:49 You have to come over so much, and yeah,

01:13:52 that's okay, I think, but the next one was very close.

01:13:57 - Hit it with a helmet.

01:14:00 Hit it with a helmet.

01:14:01 So you have to get your entire head

01:14:04 and part of your boat between the uprights,

01:14:06 between the gates.

01:14:09 - It's tough.

01:14:09 It can be quite subjective,

01:14:11 and it's difficult on some angles,

01:14:13 but now this man has been a revelation this year, Frederik.

01:14:18 To see his progression has been quite remarkable.

01:14:22 - Yeah, World Cup finals, World Championship final, yeah.

01:14:26 Very good year for Jonny Dixon.

01:14:29 - And when we had the drama in Lee Valley

01:14:32 where he had the equal time with, I think,

01:14:36 the 20th athlete, so we had--

01:14:38 - Oh, nice.

01:14:40 - So-- - Very well done.

01:14:42 - Jonny Dixon out here trying to make a mark

01:14:44 and get himself into another final.

01:14:46 - Yeah, I think the course designers

01:14:48 have done a really good job because--

01:14:50 - Haven't they? - Yeah.

01:14:51 If you see top paddlers doing all different options,

01:14:55 like going direct or doing reverse or spin,

01:14:59 yeah, then you don't know what is the fastest.

01:15:02 It's a very good job for the course designers.

01:15:05 - Just underlining the sort of season

01:15:07 Jonny Dixon's had.

01:15:08 He is currently sitting in the top 10

01:15:11 in the overall World Cup rankings.

01:15:13 Now, that is a quality field of paddlers

01:15:16 and he's sitting there in the top 10,

01:15:18 so he would love to get a big result here

01:15:21 and put himself up the leaderboard.

01:15:23 Could he challenge for a podium?

01:15:26 This has been a good run.

01:15:27 - Yeah, he has lost a bit of time here in the end.

01:15:30 And yeah, we'll see if he can push really hard

01:15:34 to the finish line.

01:15:36 Don't think it's gonna be fast enough,

01:15:37 unfortunately, for Jonny Dixon.

01:15:39 He'll have a nervous weight, but I think he's outside.

01:15:41 Yes, he moves into fourth.

01:15:43 - Yeah, he lost some boat speed in the end

01:15:46 and then it didn't go.

01:15:47 The first part of the course was really nice,

01:15:50 but then he lost the speed a bit.

01:15:52 And yeah.

01:15:53 - A bit of a shake of the head there

01:15:55 when he crossed the finish line.

01:15:56 So he obviously doesn't think it's good enough.

01:15:58 - Fourth place at the moment.

01:15:59 - Yeah, we have 14 athletes to go.

01:16:02 So, yeah, what about this man?

01:16:05 - Yeah.

01:16:06 - What about his world championships, Frederic?

01:16:07 - Incredible.

01:16:08 It's almost no words to describe it.

01:16:11 It's so good to see and yeah, so happy for him.

01:16:14 And yeah.

01:16:16 - Matus Sodi, he won bronze at the world championships

01:16:21 in Mali for Morocco.

01:16:23 Earned the quota.

01:16:25 He will be off to a second Olympic Games

01:16:27 after competing in Tokyo.

01:16:29 And I tell you what, the way he's paddling,

01:16:32 you would not rule him out of winning Africa's second ever

01:16:36 canoe slalom Olympic medal.

01:16:39 That's how good he's paddling at the moment.

01:16:40 Look at this.

01:16:41 - He's so smooth and he's so good to watch.

01:16:44 So yeah, congrats and very well done on the bronze medal.

01:16:49 And I hope he can make the final here again.

01:16:54 - It has, as the French crowd will have a bit

01:16:56 of a soft spot for him.

01:16:57 He trains a lot in France.

01:16:59 So they'll want to claim him as one of their own, I'm sure.

01:17:02 Or Matus Sodi, but he's a proud Moroccan.

01:17:05 Loves paddling for his country

01:17:08 and will be representing Africa.

01:17:11 - Yes, very good feeling on the water.

01:17:13 You could see like he's so smooth.

01:17:15 Now I think this would be a problem.

01:17:17 - Oh!

01:17:18 - Oh, what a recovery.

01:17:20 - Oh, what a recovery.

01:17:21 - I can't make a touch, but yeah.

01:17:22 - Did he get his boat through?

01:17:23 That's the question.

01:17:23 - Yeah, I think he made it, but yeah.

01:17:27 - He lost a lot of time there.

01:17:31 Is it going to be okay still?

01:17:32 It's going to be close, I think,

01:17:34 unfortunately for Sodi, that little mistake.

01:17:36 - That cost a lot.

01:17:38 And they were viewing the gate.

01:17:40 He would think he would get a touch as well.

01:17:42 - You think he touched it?

01:17:43 - Yeah, it looked like.

01:17:45 - Okay, so yeah, what a mistake.

01:17:47 - Yeah.

01:17:48 - Let's have a look here.

01:17:49 He really had to work.

01:17:49 Let's see if Frederic's eyes are good.

01:17:51 Oh, just the stubble.

01:17:54 - Yeah, I think he touched it.

01:17:55 - The stubble.

01:17:56 Maybe it's a stubble touch.

01:17:58 He should have shaved this morning.

01:17:59 - Yeah.

01:18:00 - Oh, wow.

01:18:02 That's why our judges are paid such good money.

01:18:05 Righto.

01:18:08 Yes, yes, we can hear you, Joe Pike.

01:18:10 Can you hear us?

01:18:11 World champion, former Olympic champion.

01:18:14 What a great moment it was in Lee Valley.

01:18:16 - Yeah.

01:18:17 - Two weeks ago when he got his first world title.

01:18:20 - Winning at home must be the best feeling.

01:18:22 - Yeah, he was so pumped.

01:18:24 - Yeah.

01:18:25 - And I tell you what,

01:18:26 walking around here, it's like a big weight

01:18:28 has been lifted off his shoulders.

01:18:29 He's in such a good place at the moment.

01:18:31 - Yeah.

01:18:32 - He's got that ticket back for the Olympics, Frederic,

01:18:36 and we know how crushed he was

01:18:38 when he missed out on going to Tokyo.

01:18:40 - Yeah.

01:18:41 Yeah, this year he's really shown

01:18:44 that he's one of the best out there.

01:18:47 Yeah.

01:18:48 - I think fatherhood agrees with him as well.

01:18:50 - Yeah.

01:18:50 - It's kept him more level-headed now.

01:18:52 He's much more, whoa.

01:18:53 - Whoa, nice.

01:18:55 - That's what we want to see.

01:18:57 - Gio Clark, look at this time.

01:18:59 Now we're seeing something very special from the big man.

01:19:03 - Yeah, really nice over those down gates as well.

01:19:06 - The speed that he has is something to behold.

01:19:10 Let's have a look at this little combination here.

01:19:12 - Oh, he's gonna make it.

01:19:13 - Yeah.

01:19:15 - Okay, he needs to get back.

01:19:16 - Yeah, he needs to push now.

01:19:18 - He's lost a lot of time,

01:19:20 but is it too much time for Clark?

01:19:23 - Yeah.

01:19:24 - That is a big mistake.

01:19:25 - Yeah.

01:19:26 - Are we about to see the big headline of the day?

01:19:29 I think so.

01:19:30 - Yeah, he will not make it, unfortunately.

01:19:33 - Too much time, wow.

01:19:35 Just giving him a big wrap there,

01:19:37 and Gio Clark, there's your headline, folks.

01:19:40 Gio Clark misses the final.

01:19:41 - Yeah.

01:19:42 - The world champion and former Olympic champion

01:19:45 has missed the final.

01:19:47 - Yeah, it was such a good run until that point.

01:19:49 It's a very hard combination,

01:19:51 and he didn't get the front of his boat on the wave.

01:19:55 So yeah, he didn't have,

01:19:58 you need the wave to help him come across to the gate,

01:20:01 but the front of the boat wasn't there, so.

01:20:03 - Yeah, oh, now he's taking it out on the boat.

01:20:05 I don't think it was the boat's fault, Gio.

01:20:07 - No.

01:20:08 - Wasn't the boat's fault, my friend.

01:20:09 - No.

01:20:11 - Ooh, Pepe Goncalves is here in a semifinal.

01:20:15 Come on, Pedro, we haven't seen you much this season.

01:20:18 He's had a very low-key season.

01:20:20 - Yeah, for his standard, yeah.

01:20:22 He can do great stuff on the water.

01:20:25 - Yes.

01:20:26 - Yeah.

01:20:26 - Wow.

01:20:27 - We're about, Fred, we're about to start seeing

01:20:29 the makeup of the final as well.

01:20:31 We are halfway through,

01:20:33 and of course, 12 go through the final.

01:20:34 So there are 12 paddlers left.

01:20:37 So in a moment, we will know whether Pedro Goncalves

01:20:40 or Pepe, as he's known,

01:20:42 or Benjamin Regnier, the Frenchman.

01:20:45 One of those two will be in the final

01:20:46 at the end of this run.

01:20:47 Pepe's got some work to do, though.

01:20:49 He's got that touch early on.

01:20:50 - Yeah.

01:20:53 - Very experienced paddler.

01:20:55 - Yeah.

01:20:56 - Goncalves has been to a couple of Olympics now.

01:20:58 - Yeah, very good in the cross as well.

01:21:00 - Very good.

01:21:01 - And since they didn't get the spot in,

01:21:04 at the World's, he's also one of those

01:21:06 who have to fight at the Pan Am next year

01:21:09 to get the quota.

01:21:10 - Yes, and I'm sure he'll also-

01:21:12 - Oh, no.

01:21:13 - Oh, there's another touch there.

01:21:16 - Oh, no.

01:21:17 - Oh, no.

01:21:17 - Ooh, not his day today.

01:21:20 - No, no, this is not going well.

01:21:22 Of course, he will also be able to possibly get a quota

01:21:25 in the kayak cross.

01:21:27 - Yeah, of course.

01:21:28 - In Prague next year, there'll be three quotas up

01:21:31 for grabs for the men and three for the women.

01:21:34 And only athletes who haven't already got a quota

01:21:36 or haven't earned a quota can compete.

01:21:38 - Yeah.

01:21:39 - So that throws it wide open,

01:21:41 but unfortunately for Goncalves-

01:21:43 - They've passed World Pan Am.

01:21:45 - Yes, yes.

01:21:48 - He had four second penalties and was 4.7 out, so.

01:21:53 - He would have been right in the mix,

01:21:54 but the good news for the French fans

01:21:56 is that Benjamin Regnier is into the final,

01:21:58 so they will have at least one paddler

01:22:01 this afternoon to cheer for.

01:22:03 Now this, this, Frederik, was the story

01:22:07 of the World Championships,

01:22:08 the German men failing to qualify.

01:22:11 - Yeah.

01:22:12 - A K1 boat for the Olympics,

01:22:13 and because the European Championships have already been,

01:22:17 potentially there will be no German competing in the K1.

01:22:22 - Yeah.

01:22:23 - In Paris next year.

01:22:24 There is still a back door, which is slightly ajar.

01:22:28 - Yeah.

01:22:29 - And that door is the kayak cross qualifications next year.

01:22:34 If a German can go to Prague and qualify in Prague,

01:22:39 then that athlete, they can pick an athlete

01:22:41 who can do the kayak cross

01:22:42 and potentially the K1 as well.

01:22:45 That is their only opportunity to get into the Olympics.

01:22:48 And for Hannes Agner, who's hoping to get

01:22:51 to a fourth Olympics, that would be heartbreak for him

01:22:55 if he misses out.

01:22:56 But can he come out?

01:22:57 Look at this, his split time is very good.

01:22:59 - Yeah, he's doing a really good job on the water so far.

01:23:02 Very composed and quite in the middle of the gate,

01:23:06 like safe, but very fast.

01:23:08 - There'd be a little bit of anger, you would think,

01:23:10 Frederik, just boiling under the surface.

01:23:12 - Yeah, it's nice.

01:23:13 - Yeah, for Hannes that it went so badly in the valley.

01:23:18 - Yeah, very frustrating for them, sure.

01:23:20 But yeah, he's going really good now,

01:23:24 so we'll see what, this time will be very fast, I think.

01:23:29 - It's gonna be close.

01:23:29 We could have a new race leader, I think.

01:23:31 Hannes Agner will go into the lead

01:23:34 and straight into the final.

01:23:36 - Yeah, very good.

01:23:37 - He wants to celebrate, but really, he's just,

01:23:39 he's thinking, "Why couldn't I have done that?"

01:23:42 - Yeah.

01:23:42 - "Why couldn't I have done that two weeks ago?"

01:23:44 - Yeah.

01:23:45 - That would be the frustrating question

01:23:47 he'd be asking himself right now.

01:23:49 - Yeah, you can see he's not too happy.

01:23:52 - He's not celebrating,

01:23:53 even though he's gone straight into the final.

01:23:55 Well, congratulations, Hannes Agner.

01:24:01 Now, Felix Orsmars.

01:24:05 His teammate, Mario Leitner, is currently sitting fourth.

01:24:09 So, Delphor, Lucien Delphor, is the paddler on the bubble.

01:24:13 And Felix Orsmars is the man who wants to knock him out

01:24:17 of the final at this stage.

01:24:20 - Yeah, he definitely wants revenge

01:24:22 from the world championship in Lee Valley.

01:24:24 He missed out on the semifinal,

01:24:26 which is very unusual for him.

01:24:28 - Yeah, really unusual,

01:24:29 'cause he's normally such a consistent paddler,

01:24:31 so I think a lot of people were surprised

01:24:33 when he didn't make it through.

01:24:34 - Yeah, going for a spin here,

01:24:37 keeping everything in control.

01:24:40 - So, at the moment, it is Agner and Regnier

01:24:44 sitting in the final.

01:24:46 Yeah, good move there from Felix.

01:24:48 Just a really, really accomplished paddler.

01:24:51 Good to see him on the water.

01:24:52 He looks so smooth.

01:24:54 - Yeah, he's consistently doing good runs,

01:24:57 except the world championship, as we mentioned.

01:24:59 But otherwise, he's often in the top,

01:25:03 in the finals, fighting.

01:25:06 - We're seeing the quality coming through now, aren't we?

01:25:08 This has really lifted a level.

01:25:11 - Oh, nice.

01:25:12 - In the past few runs.

01:25:13 Ooh!

01:25:14 - Ooh, he's well done.

01:25:15 - Clean there, that was impressive.

01:25:17 - He should be a contortionist.

01:25:18 - Yeah.

01:25:19 - Should be in the circus with an act like that.

01:25:21 - Yeah, that was very impressive.

01:25:23 - So, good run here from Felix Oshmatz.

01:25:25 - Oh, nice.

01:25:26 Running the boat all in to the up and exiting.

01:25:29 Very nice, yeah.

01:25:30 This is a good run.

01:25:31 - We're gonna have a new rate.

01:25:32 We might not go into the lead,

01:25:33 but he will definitely take a position in the final.

01:25:37 - Yeah.

01:25:38 - Well done, Felix Oshmatz.

01:25:40 - Yeah, very nice run.

01:25:42 Composed, looked very good all the way from the start.

01:25:45 Had a very good neck there, not touching the cape.

01:25:48 - Yeah, that was a good move.

01:25:49 - Yeah.

01:25:50 - Really good move.

01:25:51 So, Oshmatz moves straight into the final.

01:25:53 Hannes Agner, he had an asterisk,

01:25:56 but that has been removed.

01:25:57 So, Hannes Agner sits on top of the leaderboard

01:26:00 at the moment.

01:26:03 Now, Jakub Kretsky,

01:26:05 seventh at the European Championships this year.

01:26:09 - From Czech Republic,

01:26:10 which they all are very good paddlers from the Czech team.

01:26:15 And this young guy is really, yeah,

01:26:19 looking forward to see him in the future.

01:26:22 - I mean, when you're paddling alongside

01:26:24 Yuri Priskovic and Vik Prindes,

01:26:26 and Andres Tonko and guys like that,

01:26:30 you know that you're always gonna have to be at your best.

01:26:32 - Yeah. - You're very, very best.

01:26:34 - Yeah, and he's making it hard for them, definitely.

01:26:37 - Yeah, and it's good.

01:26:38 - Yeah. - It's good that he pushes them.

01:26:39 - Yeah, exactly.

01:26:40 Yeah, he's a very dynamic paddler,

01:26:44 going all the time, all in, and yeah.

01:26:48 So far, looking very fast.

01:26:50 - He really made people sit up and take notice.

01:26:52 He was, what a move.

01:26:54 - Very good.

01:26:55 - He was the fastest qualifier for the semis

01:26:59 at the World Championships,

01:27:00 and I think people thought

01:27:00 we were gonna see something special.

01:27:03 His time here is very good.

01:27:04 A couple of really nice moves here

01:27:06 from the young man from the Czech Republic, Jakub Kretsky.

01:27:09 - Yes, now he was, yeah, going for the direct,

01:27:12 like, need to come over across.

01:27:15 Yes, oh, has to spin there.

01:27:18 Obviously not his plan, but I don't,

01:27:20 yeah, he lost quite a lot there.

01:27:22 I didn't think he would lose that much,

01:27:23 but that was four seconds gone.

01:27:26 - Wow, that is surprising.

01:27:27 - No, I didn't think that was four seconds.

01:27:29 - Nope.

01:27:30 - This is the-

01:27:31 - Oh. - Oh no.

01:27:32 - Just spat out the back there for Jakub Kretsky,

01:27:35 so unfortunately that's his race over.

01:27:38 His day is over.

01:27:40 - Yeah.

01:27:41 - Such a good run up until then, Frederik.

01:27:43 He was really on track for something special.

01:27:45 - Looked very nice, and yeah, just lost it in the end.

01:27:49 - So Kretsky's demise is good news for Lucien Delfort.

01:27:54 That helmet's getting your work out.

01:27:56 It's lucky it's not an airbag,

01:27:58 because if it was an airbag,

01:27:59 it would be blown up in his face right now.

01:28:01 Look at that, boom, boom, boom.

01:28:02 Lucien Delfort is into the final.

01:28:06 Peter Kauser, 40 years old,

01:28:11 celebrated a World Cup gold medal in Laseo

01:28:14 just a couple of days before his 40th birthday.

01:28:17 I hear, Frederik, you may know this more definitely,

01:28:20 but I hear that he has been locked away

01:28:22 for the Olympics next year.

01:28:23 He has the spot.

01:28:25 - Yes.

01:28:26 - Secured for Slovenia.

01:28:27 - Yes, that's what I've heard too,

01:28:29 and so it must be true if both of us know.

01:28:31 - If both of us have heard it, it must be true, yes.

01:28:34 Which is a great result.

01:28:35 Ooh!

01:28:36 - I didn't actually see what happened,

01:28:37 but getting a little bit stuck there.

01:28:39 But I'm sure Peter is one of the fastest out there,

01:28:45 so he can probably make up some time if he...

01:28:48 - Whoa!

01:28:49 Losing a little bit coming out of that.

01:28:52 - Yeah, getting a bit stuck.

01:28:54 I think he's really trying to,

01:28:56 looks like he's pushing more than usual.

01:28:59 And yeah, he's still not too far away.

01:29:04 If he can just keep it together, he's a bit all over now.

01:29:08 - Bit of a shake of the head there for him.

01:29:11 - Yeah, I think if he's going now for it

01:29:13 and doing really well, I think he can still make...

01:29:15 - Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

01:29:16 Oh, Peter Kauser, that's giving him a 50 straight away.

01:29:20 - Yeah, I think he shouldn't have given up early.

01:29:25 - Yeah, I think still he could have made it.

01:29:28 - So the headlines keep coming.

01:29:31 Joe Clark is out, Peter Kauser is out.

01:29:35 Let's see his reaction when he looks up

01:29:38 and sees he's got a 50 now.

01:29:40 - Yeah, he can do better than that, sure.

01:29:44 - He knows he can.

01:29:45 But his decision to delay his retirement

01:29:49 has paid off though.

01:29:50 If he's guaranteed of a spot in the Olympics next year,

01:29:53 what a great finale.

01:29:55 Oh, yeah, that's...

01:29:57 - 50.

01:29:57 - Yeah, disappointing for Peter Kauser.

01:30:01 But we will see more of him, don't you worry about that.

01:30:05 But good news for Mario Leitner.

01:30:07 - Both Austrians is in the final.

01:30:11 - Two Austrians already in the final.

01:30:12 Yuri Pristovic now,

01:30:14 what can the Olympic champion do for us today?

01:30:17 Second at the World Championships behind Joe Clark

01:30:21 in Lee Valley a couple of weeks ago.

01:30:23 - Yeah.

01:30:24 - And currently, well, it's a big race

01:30:27 for the overall World Cup honors this year.

01:30:29 Pristovic sitting in fourth position at the moment

01:30:31 behind Vit Prindes, his Czech teammate

01:30:35 who's on top of the leaderboard.

01:30:36 Let's see, there's a couple of big guns

01:30:40 who have already missed the final.

01:30:41 What will Yuri Pristovic pull out for us today?

01:30:44 Doesn't miss many finals, Frederik, does he?

01:30:45 - No, he's so consistently doing good races and, yeah.

01:30:51 Podiums positions, so yeah, he's very consistent, very fast.

01:30:56 Yeah, always good to watch when he's on the water.

01:31:01 He's always have full control of his boat

01:31:03 and exactly, doing exactly what he wants.

01:31:06 - So he's up on the split, not by much though.

01:31:10 It's pretty much even with Hannes Agner,

01:31:12 the German who sits on top of the leaderboard

01:31:14 at this stage. - Nice.

01:31:15 - And that's a good move there.

01:31:16 - Yeah, that was very nice.

01:31:17 - Pristovic, and now he's starting to show us the class.

01:31:20 Look at this, wow, good move.

01:31:22 - Yeah, now only the last.

01:31:25 - I tell you what, if you're--

01:31:27 - Yeah, that's so good.

01:31:29 - Yeah, if you're in the final,

01:31:30 you'd be going and studying this run from Yuri Pristovic.

01:31:33 He's gonna be our new race leader.

01:31:35 Into the lead he goes.

01:31:36 Ranked number one and he was cruising

01:31:40 to the finish line there.

01:31:41 - Yeah, that was such a good run.

01:31:43 And the last couple of gates was so smooth and, yeah.

01:31:47 Very well done.

01:31:50 - Ah. - Beautiful run.

01:31:51 - You do expect it, don't you?

01:31:53 - Yeah, yeah, he's one of the best, if not the best.

01:31:58 - Well, the statistics would suggest he is the best, but--

01:32:02 - Yeah, we have--

01:32:04 - Well, let's see what Giovanni De Genera,

01:32:06 he's had such a good season.

01:32:07 Currently sitting second on the overall standings for 2023.

01:32:12 Fifth at the European,

01:32:15 second last year in the World Championships.

01:32:18 Has not missed a final this year.

01:32:20 - Oh, that's very impressive.

01:32:22 - Yep.

01:32:22 So he is the man of 2023.

01:32:27 - Yeah, that's very impressive.

01:32:29 - For consistency.

01:32:30 What will he do today, though?

01:32:31 - Yeah, he's had training camps here,

01:32:37 so he knows the course a bit.

01:32:39 Looking very good so far in the course.

01:32:42 - Finished sixth at Lee Valley at the World Championships,

01:32:44 which for him, I think would have been a disappointment.

01:32:47 - Yeah, I think he was definitely hoping for a medal.

01:32:50 I'm not sure how many World Championship medal

01:32:53 he has overall, individually,

01:32:55 but that's something he really wants, I'm sure.

01:32:58 - Yep, for sure.

01:33:01 Well, he's putting together a good run here.

01:33:04 - Yeah.

01:33:05 - Giovanni De Genera, the big Italian.

01:33:08 - Looks very smooth, like, yeah.

01:33:11 He's in control of what he's doing,

01:33:13 and getting a little bit stuck there,

01:33:15 but nothing major, so he's definitely on for the final.

01:33:20 - Couple of seconds down, though,

01:33:23 so he's lost a little bit of time somewhere.

01:33:25 He needs to really nail this move here.

01:33:28 Let's see how he goes.

01:33:29 Yeah. - Still doing good.

01:33:31 - Yeah, he's gonna be, ooh,

01:33:33 this is gonna be very close for Giovanni De Genera.

01:33:36 He's gonna be okay.

01:33:36 He'll be into the final.

01:33:38 - Yeah, rank six.

01:33:39 - Rank six, he goes straight in.

01:33:43 There is an asterisk next to his name.

01:33:46 Not sure which gate that is,

01:33:47 but the judges are having a look at something.

01:33:49 I tell you what, if they find a touch,

01:33:51 then he could be in trouble.

01:33:52 - Yeah, then he's in trouble.

01:33:54 Jonah Dixon is now the man waiting on eighth place.

01:33:58 - Vit Prindis made an absolute mess

01:34:02 of his first run yesterday,

01:34:03 but then came out in the second run and just nailed it.

01:34:06 It was such a good run.

01:34:07 - It was a very good run, yeah.

01:34:09 He went for it, full speed, full power, and was so good.

01:34:13 He is the current leader

01:34:15 in the overall World Cup standings for 2023.

01:34:18 He's been there before.

01:34:18 He's done this before,

01:34:20 and it just underlines this man, how good he is.

01:34:24 He'd never been to an Olympics,

01:34:25 which is just hard to believe, really.

01:34:28 - Yeah, and unofficially, if it's true, I don't know,

01:34:33 but I think Jiri might already have the spot for him.

01:34:37 - Yeah, I believe so.

01:34:38 - Yeah, so I guess Vit can still make it

01:34:41 in the car cross in Prague.

01:34:43 He, yeah, home course and everything,

01:34:46 and he's very good in the cross,

01:34:47 so maybe that's his chance.

01:34:51 - You know, I would love to see,

01:34:54 it's just sad, I think, Frederick,

01:34:55 when you see high-quality athletes like Vit,

01:35:00 Alexander Slavkovsky, and guys like that

01:35:02 who potentially could go through their entire career

01:35:05 never going to an Olympics.

01:35:08 You just wish them every possible luck.

01:35:10 I mean, the introduction of car cross

01:35:12 has provided new opportunities and chances

01:35:14 for athletes who are very, very good at their game,

01:35:18 but there's always been somebody

01:35:19 just that little bit better.

01:35:21 - Yeah.

01:35:22 Yeah, he's good.

01:35:25 He's having a good run, and yeah.

01:35:29 Now he's in the final, I think.

01:35:30 - Ooh, he's gonna be close.

01:35:34 - No, I think it's not,

01:35:35 because you have to be 95, 23 to make it.

01:35:38 - Yeah, he's well inside.

01:35:41 - Safely inside.

01:35:42 Gee, this is a quality final,

01:35:44 which is coming together now,

01:35:46 'cause Vit Prendes is through.

01:35:48 We have a couple of big-name athletes

01:35:50 who aren't gonna be there,

01:35:51 but there are plenty of very, very good athletes.

01:35:56 Noah Hege is now about to take to the water, the German.

01:36:01 Wow, can he really provide it?

01:36:05 Because this is no reflection on Noah Hege,

01:36:08 but I reckon if he could win a medal today,

01:36:10 that would be a huge upset.

01:36:12 - Yeah, I think one or two seasons ago,

01:36:15 he had a lot of finals going on

01:36:17 and was very good on the water,

01:36:19 and I don't know, this season hasn't been as good,

01:36:23 so I'm sure he really wants to put down a good run now

01:36:26 to come into the final and show what he can do.

01:36:30 - So Johnny Dixon still waits patiently

01:36:32 to see if he needs to put the boat back in the shed

01:36:36 or keep it out for another run today,

01:36:38 because Johnny Dixon's time was a 95, so...

01:36:43 - Yeah, there's space to...

01:36:46 - Definitely.

01:36:47 - To, yeah, to go for it,

01:36:50 and even with a small mistake,

01:36:52 you can still go to the final.

01:36:54 - And Hege at this stage is well inside that time,

01:36:57 that 95 second. - Nice.

01:36:59 - Interesting, just looking at the leaderboard

01:37:01 at the moment, Frederik,

01:37:01 and the top 10 athletes on our leaderboard at the moment

01:37:04 all went through clear.

01:37:06 - Yeah. - No penalties.

01:37:07 - Yeah, that's very impressive as well,

01:37:09 and also shows the importance of staying clean,

01:37:12 and now, it's a very tricky move.

01:37:14 - Oh, there is a penalty.

01:37:17 - But yeah, maybe he can make it anyway.

01:37:19 - Yeah. - He's still in touch

01:37:21 for the final. - He is.

01:37:22 So could we have our first paddler with a penalty

01:37:25 going into the final?

01:37:26 He needs to nail this, though, Noah Hege.

01:37:29 - Dropping down, this will be very tight, I think.

01:37:32 - He's gotta go under 95 seconds.

01:37:34 It's going-- - Oh, he have a touch again.

01:37:35 - Yeah, now he's outside.

01:37:37 That is unfortunately for Noah Hege.

01:37:39 - Yeah.

01:37:40 - I don't think that's gonna be good enough.

01:37:42 He's gonna have a nervous weight.

01:37:44 He's in 10th.

01:37:45 Don't forget, 12 paddlers will go through.

01:37:48 - Yeah.

01:37:49 - Johnny Dixon is into the final.

01:37:51 - Yeah.

01:37:52 - The Brits will have a man in the final.

01:37:54 It won't be Joe Clark.

01:37:55 He'll be watching from the stands.

01:37:57 And Johnny Dixon is keeping up in the finals.

01:38:01 - Yep.

01:38:02 - Very good.

01:38:03 - So the man now waiting is Noah Hege.

01:38:07 We have three paddlers to go.

01:38:10 And here is one of them, Tim Anderson,

01:38:12 that's already an Australian.

01:38:13 Oh, Tim.

01:38:16 That was a sneaky little touch there,

01:38:18 but a two-second penalty on gate two for Tim Anderson.

01:38:22 He's had a really, really good season.

01:38:26 - Oh, one more touch.

01:38:26 - You can see that.

01:38:27 - Oh, that was, okay.

01:38:29 The judges will review it, I'm sure.

01:38:31 - Yeah.

01:38:31 - Two touches is gonna be very hard.

01:38:34 - Yeah, but there is some, like we said,

01:38:37 there's time to, yeah, he made that.

01:38:40 I think with a good run, he can make it.

01:38:43 He's very fast and light on the water.

01:38:45 So I'm sure he, no, he needs a little bit better than this,

01:38:50 getting too much stuck there.

01:38:52 - Yeah, he's gotta go under 96 to get into the final.

01:38:55 And I think with the two touches

01:38:58 and just losing a little bit of time

01:39:00 on a couple of these gates,

01:39:01 unfortunately for Tim Anderson.

01:39:02 - Yeah.

01:39:03 Ooh, that was close.

01:39:05 - He's giving the judges some work to do, isn't he?

01:39:08 - Yeah.

01:39:09 Unfortunately for Tim, he's, yeah.

01:39:13 - He made the final in Lee Valley.

01:39:16 - Yeah.

01:39:16 - And in fact, I think he finished fifth.

01:39:18 - Fifth, I think he was, yeah.

01:39:19 - Which was a great moment for him.

01:39:21 And he's had a couple of other finals this year.

01:39:23 - Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

01:39:28 They've given him a 50 there.

01:39:30 This has all fallen apart, unfortunately.

01:39:32 - Oh, that was very fast.

01:39:34 - For Tim Anderson, wow.

01:39:37 Yeah, he'll be disappointed.

01:39:38 - Yeah.

01:39:39 - He'll be disappointed.

01:39:40 He'll be annoyed about that 50.

01:39:41 Let's see his reaction.

01:39:42 Oh, well, he's got nothing.

01:39:44 He's playing a straight face, poker face.

01:39:46 - Yeah, a bit too much troubles down the course.

01:39:50 - Yeah, yeah, no, he lost the line, lost the rhythm.

01:39:53 - I guess it's very hard when you have two touches

01:39:55 so early in the course, you know,

01:39:57 have to make up some time and yeah.

01:40:00 - Now, you might be asking why are the French fans

01:40:03 getting excited?

01:40:04 This is why, because Titian Kasturic is on course.

01:40:07 The young man who's, well, his record is an under 23.

01:40:12 Junior paddler is quite brilliant.

01:40:16 And we want to see him now put something together

01:40:19 in this race and excite the home fans.

01:40:21 - Ooh, there he goes.

01:40:24 Riding those waves.

01:40:25 By the way, Noah Heger is now into the final.

01:40:27 - Yeah.

01:40:29 - So he's the first man into the final with a penalty

01:40:32 and he has two of them.

01:40:33 Four seconds of penalties, good enough though

01:40:36 to get him into the final.

01:40:37 - Yeah, Titlan is, yeah, very good on this course.

01:40:42 He's trained here a lot and yeah,

01:40:45 looked on the trainings and the qualification

01:40:48 is just so smooth and confident on the water here.

01:40:51 So yeah, I would be surprised if he's not in the final.

01:40:56 - Two time junior world champion.

01:40:58 He was third, ooh, he was third in the under 23s this year

01:41:02 in Krakow and how much would he love, again, as I said,

01:41:07 this is French selection as well.

01:41:08 So if he can get through to the final,

01:41:10 he can put down a big claim to make it to Paris next year.

01:41:15 There are a lot of things the French are taking

01:41:18 into account though, including kayak cross.

01:41:21 (crowd cheering)

01:41:22 But it's a good run here for the young man.

01:41:26 - Oh, nice.

01:41:26 - Titlan Kastrik, he's gonna be okay.

01:41:30 He will be into the final.

01:41:32 - Yeah.

01:41:32 - The French fans will have two athletes to cheer for

01:41:36 this afternoon.

01:41:37 - Yeah, fourth position.

01:41:39 - Nice run.

01:41:40 - Yeah. - Nice run.

01:41:41 - And I think he can go faster.

01:41:43 - For sure.

01:41:44 - In the final, I think he will go faster.

01:41:46 - So there, the fans just getting confirmation.

01:41:50 So there we are, we're down to 11 finalists decided.

01:41:54 It's now a race between Martin Srebotnick from Slovenia,

01:41:59 who sits in position number 12,

01:42:02 and he is sitting there waiting for our final athlete

01:42:07 on the course, Jakob Grigar, who showed us yesterday,

01:42:12 just reminded us, Frederick,

01:42:14 'cause we haven't seen it for a little while,

01:42:15 just reminded us how fast he really is.

01:42:19 - Yeah, he's, when he is, yeah,

01:42:22 wants to, or like when he's on fire, he goes so fast.

01:42:27 It's so good to see him on the water.

01:42:29 And I think unofficially he has got the Olympic spot

01:42:34 as well from Slovakia.

01:42:35 - Well, no. - No?

01:42:36 - Well, I can tell you what the deal is,

01:42:38 'cause I asked him yesterday.

01:42:39 - Okay.

01:42:40 - He needs to finish better than 24th.

01:42:43 - Okay, so--

01:42:45 - No, he needs to finish better than 20th.

01:42:47 - Okay.

01:42:47 - He needs to finish in front of four paddlers here.

01:42:50 - Yeah.

01:42:51 - This is what he told me to lock away,

01:42:53 definitely, the position for Slovakia.

01:42:57 - All right, so he's on a really good run up on the split,

01:43:00 so yeah, we'll see soon enough if he'll be top 20 or not.

01:43:05 - It's been a busy couple of years for Grigar.

01:43:07 He's become a father not once, but twice.

01:43:09 - Yeah.

01:43:10 - Unbelievable.

01:43:11 - And got married.

01:43:12 - And got married.

01:43:13 - Yeah.

01:43:14 - And of course, Olympic silver medalist.

01:43:16 - Oh, sugar plum fairy, he's okay.

01:43:20 - Yeah.

01:43:21 - But might be too--

01:43:22 - He's making the final now, but--

01:43:25 - Might not be good enough now, he lost a lot of time.

01:43:29 - But he's definitely going to make top 20, I think.

01:43:32 - He needs to make top 20 to get that Olympic ticket.

01:43:34 If what he told me is correct,

01:43:35 and I have no reason to doubt him.

01:43:37 - No.

01:43:38 - But--

01:43:39 - He needs to be 11, 12 seconds.

01:43:43 - He needs to go under 102, and he's done that.

01:43:45 - Yeah.

01:43:46 - 19th.

01:43:47 (laughing)

01:43:49 - 19th.

01:43:51 He needed top 20, and he's got 19th.

01:43:56 - Okay.

01:43:57 - So he's not in the final,

01:43:57 but he's doing some quick sums in his head here.

01:43:59 He's crunching the numbers, he's going,

01:44:00 "I don't want to look like I'm celebrating,

01:44:02 "'cause I didn't make the final."

01:44:03 - Yeah.

01:44:04 - "But I better learn some French,

01:44:05 "'cause I'm coming to Paris next year for the Olympics."

01:44:08 Possibly.

01:44:09 - Possibly, he is--

01:44:10 - 19th, he needed to get top 20, and he got 19th.

01:44:13 - Yeah, that's--

01:44:16 - Jakob, what are you doing to us, my friend?

01:44:18 You're making us all--

01:44:19 - Worry.

01:44:20 - Age prematurely.

01:44:21 - Yeah, exactly.

01:44:22 His run was so good until the big mistake there.

01:44:25 - Yep.

01:44:26 So that means that Martin Šerbotnik from Slovenia

01:44:29 is into the final.

01:44:30 There we go, confirmation sitting at the top there.

01:44:32 Who else but Jiri Prisković, Hannes Agne,

01:44:35 Felix Oršma, Tidjan Kastrik, Benjamin Regnier,

01:44:37 Lucien Delfort, Vit Prindis, Giovanni Degeneres,

01:44:41 Mario Leitner, Johnny Dixon, Noah Hege,

01:44:44 and Martin Šerbotnik make up our top 12.

01:44:48 Mateusz Srudy just missing out.

01:44:50 - Yeah, just 13th.

01:44:51 - Yep, with a touch, that two-second penalty really--

01:44:53 - Yeah, that cost him a lot.

01:44:54 I think it was the last couple of gates he touched as well.

01:44:58 - Yep.

01:44:59 So, yeah, there we go, folks.

01:45:01 Hope you've enjoyed our semi-final action this morning.

01:45:03 Fredrik, thank you once again.

01:45:05 Come back and join us for the final.

01:45:06 - Yeah, sure, of course.

01:45:07 - For the men's K1 final, we'll have Fredrik Wallen

01:45:11 from Sweden in the commentary box with us.

01:45:13 We hope you've enjoyed the action this morning.

01:45:16 My name is Ross Sully.

01:45:17 It's been a great privilege to bring you the racing.

01:45:19 I'm looking forward to the finals.

01:45:21 I know you will be at home as well.

01:45:22 Set the alarm.

01:45:23 It's only 40 minutes or so from now.

01:45:26 It'll be a really interesting fight for gold here in Paris

01:45:30 in our Canoe Slalom World Cup final for 2023.

01:45:34 Hope you can join us then.

01:45:35 For now, from Paris, over and out.

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WC & MK: Semis / 2023 ICF Canoe-Kayak Slalom World Cup Vaires Sur Marne Paris France

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