Mallory Franklin and Jonny Dickson both stormed to gold and Kimberley Woods and Sam Leaver claimed silver and bronze respectively as the British team roared to one of their most successful days at a World Cup ever after dominating the kayak cross in Ivrea.
Right from the time trials it looked as if the Brits would be among the medals as attention turned to the kayak cross in Italy – and so it proved with Mallory and Kimberley the first to reach the podium after cruising into the final with the former coming out on top.
A matter of moments later the British team’s joy doubled as time trial winner Jonny went from third to first late on in the men’s kayak cross while Sam battled to bronze. Three Brits were in that final with Joe Clarke missing out on guaranteeing a complete clean sweep after placing fourth.
Not since the kayak cross was introduced to the World Cup schedule has there been such a dominance from the British team with four medals on the day – two gold, a silver and a bronze – adding to the C1 silver Kimberley won in Ivrea less than 24 hours earlier.
Jonny Dickson (CR Cats) said: “Three of us in the final just shows how good we are as a nation and how well we train at home. I am really happy. I didn’t really have a strategy but winning the time trial helped a lot.
“I was taking it round by round and deciding what to do based on who I was up against. I think in that final I knew I had a pretty good chance because anything can happen. I’m sure Joe is disappointed. I think I went from third to first in the last gate.”
Mallory Franklin (Windsor) and Kimberley Woods (Rugby) meeting in the women’s kayak cross final always seemed likely from the time trials as they superbly navigated the course in Ivrea to kick start the historic day for the British team.
Kimberley led the final after the drop in with Mallory closely behind. Both went left at the first upstream gate with Mallory getting underneath her teammate for a lead that she would not relinquish.
The Brits went to opposite sides at the second upstream gate with Mallory powering home afterwards for gold – and her first medal of the World Cup season – and Kimberley securing silver and keeping Olympic champion Noemie Fox at bay with bronze.
Mallory Franklin said: “It was a real battle with Kim. I had to fight. It was good fun. I find the ramp really hard here so I was really happy I got a good ramp and could go from there.
“It is pretty tough [racing Kimberley] because I want her to do well as well but to get ahead was really nice. I think my kayak cross has been building so it has been nice to get into a final and to come away winning it is obviously amazing.”
There was a sweet silver lining for double Olympic bronze medallist Kimberley Woods with her second-place finish propelling her to the top of the overall women’s kayak cross World Cup standings with one round left in Spain.
Kimberley said: “To come away with two silver medals is pretty good. Even though I have had a lot of time off since the Games, I can still be up there with the best even when I’m not in the best shape possible, I take a lot of confidence from that.
“I was the overall World Cup winner last year and I obviously want to get that again but it is double points and anything can change. I am going out there still to win gold. I go into every race trying to win it.”
The men’s kayak cross final was a much different affair to the women’s as three Brits lined up. It was France’s Gael Adisson who got the best start however with Sam Leaver (Edinburgh Schools) attempting to get underneath him as both went left at the first upstream gate.
At the same gate Joe Clarke (Stafford and Stone) and Jonny Dickson went right and left tussling, seemingly out of contention for the top two places. However the second upstream gate was decisive as Sam went over the top of his French rival at the approach.
That slowed them both and Jonny, flying in behind, went right and executed the gate to perfection to come out first and roar to the line for his first career World Cup gold. Sam couldn’t win his battle with Adisson but bronze represents his first ever World Cup medal.
Sam said: “I feel like it is a long time coming. I have been waiting a long time to race a senior World Cup in kayak cross but I always thought once I get into the head-to-head stages I would have a good chance of medalling – and it happened today, which was good.
“I have got a 100 per cent medal rate in international races in kayak cross. I had a terrible selection series in this and didn’t make the team, so it made me wait even longer for a kayak cross debut at a senior level. But I was able to show my level as one of the best senior kayak cross paddlers.”
Meanwhile, with a host of other Brits in action, Nikita Setchell (Nottingham), who won kayak cross bronze at the second World Cup of the season in Prague, was caught up in an unfortunate incident in her quarter-final in her bid to get back onto the podium in Ivrea.
Well placed in second after the first upstream gate, Setchell followed Czech leader Katerina Bekova to the left side of the second as the two chased progression. However France’s Emma Vuitton would also come bouncing into the same gate, leaving the right side completely clear for Olympic champion Noemie Fox.
Try as she might, Setchell just couldn’t get herself out of the three-way bundle with Vuitton and Bekova and so would unfortunately not join Mallory Franklin and Kimberley Woods in the semi-finals.
Phoebe Spicer (Lee Valley) also joined Kimberley, Mallory and Nikita in the women’s kayak cross in Ivrea and ranked a solid 13th overall in the time trial. Drawn in the fourth heat, Phoebe got off to a great start after the drop in and was straight into second. A slightly mistimed first upstream gate set Phoebe back but she powered to make up the lost metres ahead of the second.
She produced a great move on Chiara Sabattini at that second upstream gate and looked to be getting around the Italian home paddler. However the gate just wouldn’t fall for Phoebe and she would paddle home in third in the heat.
Jake Brown joined Joe Clarke, Jonny Dickson and Sam Leaver in the kayak cross on the final day in Ivrea. He clocked 49.17 seconds in the time trial to rank 30th overall and unfortunately miss out on a place in the heats.
Mark Ratcliffe, in his last event as Paddle UK’s Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross Performance Director, said:
“When they are all on their game, that’s what can happen. To have two in the women’s final and three in the men’s final was pretty outstanding and everyone performed to a really high level.
“I was pleased for Mall, she has had a tough year and to get on the top step of the podium was really good to see. Kimberley paddled really well as well and it was a tough battle between them. Jonny has been on a steep upward trajectory this year and Sam has really taken to the event. He had a tough selection back in April so it is a good reward for him to come out with a podium at this stage of the season.
“I tried to enjoy Paris and did enjoy it – at this stage of the season everyone is trying to enjoy it. The performances were a nice way to round things off and the team did a nice thing in inviting me to go up and present on the podium for the men and women. It was emotional in wrapping up and speaking to athletes and not knowing if I will do one of these again.”