A monumental day rounded off a historic Junior and U23 slalom European Championships as the British team won a huge six medals on the final day in Krakow, Poland.
The medal flurry means GB achieved a remarkable twelve medals across the four days of racing.
Five of today’s accolades were silver, with Ellis Miller (U23 women’s) and Arina Kontchakov (Junior women’s) both winning their first individual medals in canoe slalom.
Siblings Lois Leaver (U23 women’s) and Sam Leaver (U23 men’s) battled to silver in their respective kayak cross head to head finals, whilst Kontchakov rounded off the last day with her second silver medal on Sunday.
Kurts Adams Rozentals also got the haul underway with a brilliant bronze in the U23 men’s canoe final.
Kontchakov (Lee Valley) enjoyed a stunning day on the Krakow course with her double medal success.
The 17-year-old kick-started with a first canoe slalom international medal in junior women’s canoe final.
Dominating the semi-finals to top the standings, she went off last in the 12-strong final, hunting down the time of 110.11.
Feeling the confidence of her semi-final run, Kontchakov impressed from the start as she started off clean to sit quickest after nine gates.
She continued to extend her advantage by the second split, almost two seconds quicker than Valentyna Kocriova.
The Czechia paddler had perfected the bottom section, as the Brit powered to line neck and neck with the top time.
Close to call, Kontchakov crossed the line in 110.24, just 0.13 off the title, as she secured a brilliant first medal in canoe slalom with silver.
Just four hours later, Kontchakov was back on the podium for her emphatic performances in the kayak cross.
Battling through the rounds well, Kontchakov perfected the first upstream gate to sit nicely in second place.
With issues ensuing behind her, she played the second upstream well, staying out of trouble with German Mina Blume well ahead, crossing the line for a comfortable silver.
Lost for words after the canoe slalom, she said:
“I can’t believe I’ve just won my first individual medal in slalom. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Having raced here last year, I had a lot of confidence in the course, and knowing the features well.
“I had a lot of confidence from the supporters being the last British boat off. I could hear the crowds going, I could see my teammates on the side from the start-line and I committed the best I ever have from my run and it really paid off.
“When I crossed the line I couldn’t believe it. I visualised the feeling of winning a medal before this final. I was telling myself I’d be proud of myself no matter what. I didn’t believe I’d come second and by such a small margin.
“My semi-final run was great. The course is tricky and could change from semi-final to final. I had to be adaptable. I knew I had the skills and belief so gave it my all and it paid off.”
A magnificent performance from Ellis Miller saw the Lee Valley paddler win her first individual medal at international level with silver in the U23 women’s canoe.
Early off in the final after qualifying from the semi-final in ninth place, Miller was one second quicker at the first split from the time set by Emanuela Luknarova (Slovakia).
The 22-year-old maintained her advantage at the second split, keeping her run clean throughout to fly into first place, clocking 102.96 and 1.5 seconds clear.
A long wait followed for Miller with a further eight athletes still to compete.
A storming run from Eva Alina Hocevar (Slovenia) was the only time sub 100 seconds, pushing Miller down to second.
But with none of the remaining four paddlers coming close to her time, a silver medal was secured for Miller and her first time on the international podium as an individual.
Over the moon with her day, she said:
“It’s fantastic. After not having the week I wanted, I was delighted to put down the best run of my week in the final when it really mattered.
“I knew my time was around the winning semi-finals time, so I knew I’d gone much faster than before and that my time would be competitive in that final. There were a lot more paddlers still to go so wasn’t sure how it would play out.
“It was a long wait, but I’m so happy. I started to believe as each paddler went down that it could happen.
“It’s my first individual medal so it’s a really special day. It’s a milestone moment.”
After winning the individual U23 kayak cross title on Friday, Lois Leaver (Edinburgh Schools) continued her rich vein of form to win head-to-head silver in the women’s final.
Becoming women’s kayak World Champion last month in what was her first international medal as an individual, Leaver was nicely placed in second place after the first upstream of the final.
Tactically avoiding the trouble on the final gate, Leaver managed to fend off a late charge from Tereza Kneblova (Czechia) to finish in the silver position and secure medal number two of the European Championships.
She said:
“I’m so happy. Head-to-head racing is really tough and hard to know what’s going to happen. I’m really happy with this result.
“It’s the first time I’ve had success in kayak cross so it’s such a good feeling. The gold in the individual gave me confidence off the ramp. I had lane choice in every round which carried me through to the end.
“I’m looking forward to the final two races of the season with the World Cups and would love to continue the success that I’ve had.”
Leaver’s brother Sam (Edinburgh School) enjoyed the same success as he battled hard to win silver in the U23 men’s kayak cross final.
The 20-year-old won the U23 World title in Krakow last season, and started this final impressively, shrugging off two competitors around the first upstream gate.
Sat in second behind Miquel Farran, the Scottish athlete opted for a separate final upstream to the race leader, which nearly propelled him to gold, but the Spanish paddler managed to just get out of his upstream in time to retain his lead.
With the other two paddlers faulting, Leaver eased over the line to take silver.
He said:
“I’m so happy to win another medal. It wasn’t the cleanest final and it was hard to make decisions that weren’t full-on contact. I think I did really well on the first up to make sure I came away with a silver medal.
“I had eyes on winning this after finishing second in this competition last year, but a silver I’m super happy with. Great result.
“I’ve raced three lots of head-to-heads at U23 and won a medal every time so very happy with that consistency.
“I’ve got three more years at U23 level, so hopefully I can keep battling up at the top. I’m also looking to pair this with some canoe slalom success, which is hopefully around the corner.
“It’s a fantastic day for the family with Lois also medalling. My Gran came out from Edinburgh so it’s cool she got to see us win four medals between us.”
The medals got started through Kurts Adams Rozentals (Stafford & Stone) early in the afternoon in the U23 men’s canoe final.
After a strong semi-final performance, Rozentals was third last off in the final and went in search of a dominant time set by Mewen Debliquy (France) as he sat nearly five seconds clear at the top.
Rozentals won an U23 World silver on this very course last season, and showed his love for Krakow again sitting just shy of the leading time at both the first and second split.
Keeping his run clean in pursuit of a medal, the 22-year-old powered over the line to slot into second place after clocking 92.61.
Czechia’s Adam Kral followed Rozentals with a time of 90 seconds knocking him down to third, with a nervous wait to see if he’d win a second individual international medal.
Germany’s Ben Kies couldn’t match the podium times after errors in the bottom section, confirming Rozentals’ bronze medal.
Happy to medal again in Krakow, he said:
“I’m delighted with the bronze. I wasn’t sure how the final was going to go ahead of it. I used my doubt to drive me down that course and I came out with a medal so I’m really pleased.
“I was focussed on what I could do. I made sure the pressure wouldn’t get to me. My plan was to send it and whatever happened would happen.
“It was stressful waiting to see where I stacked up. I did a run I was proud of and delighted with the result.
“It’s my second medal on this course. I’m going to go away and analyse why I perform so well in Krakow.
“I have one more year at U23 level. Next year it would be fantastic to get that gold. I’m going to go away, work hard and hopefully I’ll be in the best shape ever.”
Stafford and Stone’s Luc Royle posted the time of 95.60 in the U23 men’s canoe semi-finals that had him sat on the bubble of the top 12 needed to qualify. Sadly for the 21-year-old, his time was 0.07 off in 13th place.
Ed McDonald (Holme Pierrepont) too missed out on the final as he finished 18th. Like Royle, he kept his run clean, but lost time in the bottom section to clock 97.09.
Joanna Blythe-Shields (Lee Valley) was looking strong in her bid for a top 12 finish in the U23 women’s canoe semi-finals
In contention after the second split, the 21-year-old, she also took two gate penalties which took her just outside of the final.
Rachel Ellis (Lee Valley) was off early in the semi-final, but unfortunately lost time in her run, also picking up two penalties in the process. She ultimately clocked a time of 131.62 to finish 25th.
In the junior women’s canoe semi-final, Darcey McMullins (Lee Valley) started strongly and was in contention for a final spot. She didn’t quite get the gate 16/17 move right as she took penalties on both, pushing her down to 14th.
It wasn’t to be Zoe Blythe-Shields (Lee Valley). She was on for a solid run which would’ve had her in the top 12, but missed gates on the bottom section took her out of contention.
Will Kettle (Lee Valley) was the top Brit in the junior men’s canoe semi-finals. Two early touches on gates 2 & 10 made it tough for the Lee Valley paddler to reach the top 12 as he clocked 110.59 to place 21st overall.
Penalties also cost Lewis Arden (Manvers), as the junior added 10 seconds onto his overall time as he finished in 24th place.
It also didn’t come together for Isaac Wright (Stafford & Stone) in the semi-finals. He was sharp on the top section but lost time in the final 10 gates as he clocked 120.77 to place 28th overall.
In addition to the trio of medals, nine Brits featured in the latter stages of the kayak cross head- to- heads.
Jonah Hanrahan (Independent) was desperately unlucky not to add to his kayak cross individual bronze from Friday.
Lining up in the junior final, he was in a great position heading into upstream gate five, but unfortunately, he got stuck in the move and couldn’t quite get through clean, resulting in a fault and finishing fourth outside the medals.
Fresh from winning his canoe slalom European title yesterday in the men’s kayak, Ben Haylett (Holme Pierrepont) fell at the semi-final stage of the U23 men’s kayak cross.
It was a similar situation for Jonny Dickson (CR Cats), as he finished third in his semi-final, whilst Gwion Williams (Llandysul) was unlucky not to progress through the junior semi-finals after also finishing third.
It was heartbreak for Macy Kang (Holme Pierrepont) and Ellis Miller in their U23 women’s kayak cross semi-final. Kang picked up a fault on the roll, whilst Miller had to go back on a downstream gate which took her out the running.
Full results for the day and the entire weekend can be found here