The curtain came down on the final day of action of the ICF Junior & U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Montemor-o-Velho with Paddle UK head of performance development James Train confident the future is bright for Britain’s paddlers.
Kristina Armstrong continued her strong showing in Portugal with a fifth-place finish in the A final of the K1 U23 women’s 200m.
Earlier in the day, Gabriel Popham-Coveley finished sixth in the B final of the K1 U23 men’s 500m while Olivier Mazur was seventh in the C final of the K1 junior men’s 500m.
And with such high-level competition across the board, Train believes there is huge potential within the group that travelled to the Championships.
He said: “As you would expect the standard out here has been incredibly high. I’m really proud of the effort and bravery shown by everyone within their racing.
“Many of the athletes racing here have at least a year left within their age category and the experience of racing at these championships will really set them up well for next year. I believe this group has the ability and attitude to step on again and I’m excited to see how they develop into next year.
“I want to thank staff and athletes for creating a great environment this week and give my thanks and congratulations to all coaches involved with the athletes who have competed at these championships.”
The final races of the competition were relays, with Tom Hatton and Annie Bates finishing 20th in the final of the K1 junior mixed relay 5000m.
And then Popham-Coveley and Lucy Guest closed out the competition with 12th in the K1 U23 mixed relay 5000m final.
The schedule and live results can be found here.