Joe Clarke MBE dominated the time-trials as all four TeamGB athletes impressed on a historic first day of kayak cross, with the discipline making its Olympic debut at Paris 2024.
Clarke, Kimberley Woods, Mallory Franklin and Adam Burgess were all back on the Vaires-sur-Marne as part of the first cohort of athletes to take on the exhilarating, head-to-head format at an Olympic Games.
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Friday kick-started a further thrilling four days of Olympic action, after the canoe slalom drew to a close, as TeamGB finished with two Olympic medals through Burgess and Woods.
Today saw the time-trials in the French capital, with athletes taking on the course one at a time, navigating the setup as quickly as possible to give themselves the best seeding for tomorrow’s head-to-head.
Three-time World Champion Clarke, put down a marker as the Stafford and Stone athlete stormed the men’s time-trials to top the standings and head into tomorrow’s head-to-heads as the top seed.
Ranked number one at Paris 2024, Clarke went last off onto the course, chasing a time of 66.41.
A powerful start, he drew upon his trademark pace to navigate the course, impressing during both upstreams to put down a time of 66.08 and take his preferred position tomorrow in the knockout stages.
He said:
“The aim was to be top of the time-trials, giving me first seed for the first round. If you keep winning the rounds you keep getting to pick your lane.
“It’s not vital, but I’ve got my eye on my preferred lane so great to take that from the start.
“I’m here to win a medal and win the Olympics.
“It will get interesting once we get to the latter stages of the event and people start to get knocked out the rounds. It’ll be tight.
“It’s a great way for people to get into the sport, so I can’t wait for people to see those head-to-head rounds.”
Stafford and Stone teammate Adam Burgess heads into the event as an Olympic silver medallist following his men’s canoe success on Monday.
Burgess was off the ramp earlier on in the round, and too delivered a strong performance as he navigated the eight gates and roll zone.
Making the switch from the canoe to kayak, the 32-year-old handled the red upstreams well to post a time of 74.66 which placed him 26th out of 38 ahead of round one tomorrow.
He said:
“That was good. I have to go against my instincts in kayak cross as I’m not trying to avoid the gates, but that was good fun to race today.
“I’ve been training with Kimberley Woods for the head to heads, and she’s been super impressive.
“Tomorrow when we get to the knockout stages, I will be keeping my eyes open, and if I see an opportunity I will take it.”
2022 World Cup series winner Mallory Franklin put in a brilliant time-trial performance to bank a top-three finish in the women’s event.
Strong off the ramp, the Windsor & District athlete powered away into an impressive first upstream. She impressed again in second upstream to go nearly two seconds quicker than the race leader as she stopped the clock with 71.85.
Franklin then had the wait to see where she stacked up, with 20 athletes still to go. Only Jess Fox and home favourite Camille Prigent could beat the Brits’ time as she heads into tomorrow as third seed.
She said:
“That was a really solid run. It’s tough as we all go through to the knockout stages.
“There’s more time in my run there, but I will sit in the higher seeds tomorrow which is really pleasing. I was happy to deliver that run.
“We’ve all been bouncing off each other to help each other get better. We will see what happens in the race for the rest of the competition. It’s going to be really exciting.
“I’m really happy to be part of the first field of athletes to race at an Olympics. I can see it being really popular and it’s great to have another opportunity at a medal.”
World Champion and ranked number one for the event, Kimberley Woods went off last in the time-trial as she looked to set a marker for the event.
With an Olympic bronze medal in the women’s kayak already in her pocket, Woods looked strong in her pursuit of the time-trials.
The Rugby paddler was on for a really good time, but unfortunately, she was unsure whether she’d navigated the final upstream of gate 8 correctly.
Taking no risks, she took on the gate again to ensure no faults and crossed the line in 16th with a time of 74.98, only four seconds off the top paddlers.
She said:
“I felt like I was flying and really wanted to take the ups on with the sweep technique.
“I was slightly off line and the final gate is tough, but I decided to go for it. I’m frustrated but I know I feel really strong ahead of tomorrow.
“It doesn’t change anything. The race isn’t won off the ramp and I’ve proven that a lot. I know I’ve got the strength to get a good start and you get an extra chance to secure that preferred ramp position.
“I’m here for one reason and that is to bring another Olympic medal home. I’m World Champion and I’m going for the win.”
All four Brits will be back in action for the head to heads starting tomorrow – check out their results and the round one draw here
How to Watch
The BBC will bring you extensive coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics across TV, iPlayer, Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app.
Broadcaster Discovery+ is the rights holder for Paris 2024 and is showing every moment of the Games in the UK.
This includes ALL of the canoe slalom action.
Across the Discovery+ app and Eurosport channels in the UK, more than 3,800 hours of live coverage will be aired in total from 07:00 to 22:30 BST each day.
Discovery+ and Eurosport requires a subscription. You can find more information here.