Two golds and a silver for GB rounded off a hugely successful international season in La Seu, Spain.
Great Britain continued their run of form, dominating the kayak cross, winning two gold medals and a silver, at the final world cup of the 2024 season.
Windsor’s Mallory Franklin won her second successive gold medal. Having taken the win last weekend in Ivrea, she once again proved the dominant force in the women’s final.
Mallory stormed to victory from the ramp with Kimberley using her trademark strength to claim a hard fought silver.
Reflecting on her win, Mallory said: “I’m pleased with that, I’ve felt more confident throughout the year in kayak cross and I’ve taken lots of positive steps.
“To get back-to-back wins is pretty cool, especially on two different venues is great, it was really physical out there today.
“To get the one-two with Kimberley over the last two weeks is great, and we’re the top two in the overall standings this season which says a lot about the strength of kayak cross in Great Britain.”
Kimberley’s second successive silver medal banked her the overall series win for the second year in a row, with Mallory second.
The Rugby paddler said: “I’m pretty happy to be so consistent at the top level, to be overall winner for two years in a row along with Joe is really special.
“It’s great to have another GB one-two – it just shows that we are number one and that we mean business.
“We’ve got the best ramp in the world, the best course in the world and we’re consistently training with the best in the world. We put a huge amount of work into kayak cross and it shows in the success we’ve had this year, not just at senior level but also at junior and U23.
“I’m really proud to be a part of a strong team.”
Joe Clarke (Stafford and Stone) proved he was the best in the world once again with a dramatic win in the men’s event which also sealed the overall series victory for him too.
Having crossed the line in second place, Joe was promoted to the gold medal position after Poland’s Mateusz Polaczyk was given a retrospective fault.
“I’m buzzing with that,” he said. “What an end to the season. In some ways it felt like the season had ended with the Olympic Games but I thought I’d come out and do these last two world cups.
“I didn’t feel on top form and as the rounds progressed I could feel my arms getting more tired but the skills and techniques that I’ve built up over the years saw me through to the end for the win.
“I had a chat with Kimberley before today and said wouldn’t it be great to see if we could be the overall winners once again, like we did in September last year and we’ve done exactly that.
“It’s been a massive year, lots of learnings and ups and downs. The start of the year wasn’t great but the second half has been brilliant.”
Jonny Dickson fought a physical quarter-final. Having crossed the line in third place, a judge review of Nevaeh of France on gate 6 looked to have allowed him to sneak through to the semi-finals but it wasn’t to be. He finished in third.
Phoebe Spicer fought well in her heat, with a physical move on the final up gate which looked to have secured her progression but unfortunately she was deemed to have faulted in the roll zone and was eliminated.
Nikita Setchell too was fourth in her heat after a paddle back to gate 5.
Unfortunately for Jake Brown and Sam Leaver, despite finishing in 26th and 30th respectively they didn’t make it through for the head to head.
Keir Worth, Director of Paddlesport, said: “It’s been a fantastic couple of weeks for the team.
“It’s always difficult to return to competition after a major event like the Olympic Games, but it’s testament to the athletes, coaches and support staff that the discipline, belief and teamship they demonstrate every day has given them the platform to be so successful across the whole season.
“They have consistently delivered exceptional results throughout the whole year and it has been fantastic to round it off with such a great weekend in La Seu.
“Everyone at Paddle UK is extremely proud.”