100 year heritage of Czech canoeing parade in Troja

John Gregory - @gregiej | Sportscene – We are at the culmination of an exciting year of racing at World Cup and continental championships. The Český svaz kanoistů celebrate 100 years of canoeing heritage (1913 – 2013) by hosting the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships for the third time (Lipno 1967, Troja 2006 & Troja 2013). Here is a preview of what to expect and who to look out for at this week’s ICF Canoe Slalom Senior World Champions in Prague.

It was nearly not to be. Jiri Rohan, chairman of the local organising committee and his team deserve special recognition from bringing the course back from the brink after the devastating 4000m3/sec Vlatva river floods at the beginning of June. Jiři Prskavec straight from his win at the Europeans rushed back to aid the clean-up. Štěpánka Hilgertová remarked; “The organizers afford big thank and admire. It is unbelievable how much effort and energy they have put into the reconstructions.”

We were last racing in Prague at the 2012 World Cup race 4 with Benjamin Savšek (SLO) in C1M, Caroline Loir (FRA) in C1W, Etienne Daille (FRA) in K1M, Jana Dukátová (SVK) in K1W and Pierre Labarelle & Nicolas Peschier (FRA) in C2.

The defending World Champions from 2011 were Denis Gargaud Chanut (FRA) in C1M, Kateřina Hošková (CZE) in C1W, Peter Kauzer (SLO) in K1M, Corinna Kühnle (AUT) in K1W and Pavol & Peter Hochschorner (SVK) in C2.

Finally, we still have a number of paddlers from the last Worlds on the Troja course in 2006. The gold medalists which were Tony Estanguet (FRA) in C1M, Stefano Cipressi (ITA) and Julien Billaut who drew in K1M, Jana Dukátová (SVK) in K1W and Jarolsav Volf & Ondřej Štěpánek (CZE) in C2. In 2006, there was no C1W class as this was not introduced at Worlds until 2010.

The first year into a new Olympic cycle is always an interesting one. We saw the retirement of 3 time Olympic champion Tony Estanguet after the London Olympics. There will be paddlers at this year’s Worlds who did not perform in London as expected and have more to prove in Prague. We are seeing new young stars coming through and preparing for Olympics in 2016 and 2020. There is a strong correlation between junior World champions and future Olympic champions.

Ana Satila from Brazil, 17, is already at her second Worlds and her home Rio Olympics will also be her second. She is not the youngest competitor in Prague as that would be 15 year old Sofia Diaz from Argentina who is just 15 competing in C1W. In K1M, Jakub Grigar (SVK) at 16 is the new junior World champion. Remember, Michal Martikán was just 17 when he won his first Olympic title in Atlanta. At the other end of the spectrum we have 7 athletes in their forties including double Olympic champions Elena Kaliská (SVK), 41, Štěpánka Hilgertová (CZE), 45 and former 1999 K1M World champion David Ford (CAN) who is 46.

C1M – Canadian Single Men
With the retirement of three time Olympic champion Tony Estanguet after London2012, will Michal Martikán, 34, regain his crown as undisputed C1 master or will new stars like Sideris Tasiadis from Germany strike gold? In his only World Cup appearance Michal showed his class on his home Bratislava course with a mere 0.66 second win over Britain’s Beijing Olympic silver medalist David Florence.

Slovakia is exceptionally strong in both C1 as well as C2 with Michal, 2012 World Cup champion Alexander Slafkovský and Matej Beňuš ranked in the top 6 by the ICF and each with a podium finish in the 2013 World Cup series.

In this year’s World Cup races Benjamin Savšek (SLO) has repeatedly shown he can be the fastest C1 with team-mate Anže Berčič twice swooping in to take the win in the final.

We know defending champion Denis Gargaud Chanut (FRA) in addition to any of the paddlers named above are also very capable of a race win.

C1W – Canadian Single Women
Jessica Fox will be looking for her first potential Senior World Championship title. She secured the Junior & U23 in 2012 and U23 title in Liptovský Mikuláš earlier this summer. She also comes to Prague as the newly crowned 2013 World Cup champion. Her consistency is inspiring and she has shown a mastery over the field with World Cup wins with a clear margin.

Jess may not have it all her own way as she recognises herself. She said to Sportscene “I guess it depends on the course design but I have a feeling it will be super tight racing on the Troja course - it always is! The Czechs are always very strong on their home course but most Europeans know this course well so I expect some pretty cut throat racing!”

Kateřina Hošková is on her home course and comes to these Worlds as defending champion. She adds; “I got used to it [new obstacles] quite soon, it wasn’t that big a change. I like to paddle in Troja, I am here every day.”

K1M – Kayak Single Men
Defending World Champion Peter Kauzer, 30, from Slovenia has been on exceptional form in the last two World Cup races with exceptional final runs at the Tacen and Bratislava World Cup race finals.

Germany has continued to dominate the World Cup ranking with Sebastian Schubert 1st, Hannes Aigner 2nd and Fabian Dörfler 3rd.

Olympic Champion Daniele Molmenti told Sportscene “Before London my goal was to be the first kayaker to win the most championships in kayak. Euro, WC, Worlds and Olympics! Now I just feel proud to have written the history of our sport. The problem now is to keep being the champion! I'll do my best!”

At the European Championships in 2011, junior Jiři Prskavec stunned the canoeing world with a bronze medal in Bratislava. He is now 2013 Senior European Champion so will be looking to take advantage of his home advantage this week.

K1W – Kayak Single Women
Slovakian Jana Dukátová has the unique distinction of having won gold at the last Troja World’s in 2006 and the World Cup race on the same course in 2012. When asked about it Jana said; “"Although Prague is one of the easier courses I really like the variety of white water features it has. The course designers usually set up the course in a way that you need to properly use these features and show your technical skills to bring a smooth and fast run. And that's what I like."

Jana, 30, has also shown her consistency winning the 2013 World Cup series. She is not though the defending World Champion, the title of which is held by Austria’s Corinna Kühnle.

The K1W class in this year’s World Cup proved very open with 10 different medalists at the 5 race series. European Champion Fiona Pennie, 30, from Great Britain is also capable of winning. Émilie Fer from France will be eager to add a World Championship medal to her Olympic title and individual World Cup race wins. Japanese athlete 24-year old Yuriko Takeshita who was 4th in London now has even more reason to push for a first podium finish.

In K1W we are only absent of Olympic bronze medalist Maialen Chourraut (ESP) following the birth of her daughter Ane in June.

C2 – Canadian Doubles (Men)
Twins Pavol & Peter Hochschorners are legends having won more medals than any other paddlers, namely; 3 time Olympic champions, 5 time World champions, 10 time World Cup champions and 6 time European champions. At any time we have perceived their reign may draw to a close they again stamp their authority with a commanding win.

Gauthier Klauss and Matthieu Peche (FRA) won three consecutive 2013 World Cup races, with Pavol & Peter Hochschorner (SVK) securing both the first and fifth races. We should also expect a tight finish with 2013 European champions Nicholas Peschier & Pierre Labarelle from France, who also won the last World Cup race here in 2012.

Sadly, the Olympic champions Tim Baillie & Etienne Stott are the only key athletes absent in Prague following shoulder surgery for Etienne Stott from an injury incurred during the heats in Seu.

Each of this year’s World Cup finals has been made up exclusively of European crews.

Praha Race Format:

• Wednesday September 11th Opening Ceremony 8pm CET
• Thursday September 12th Qualification heats C1M, C1W & K1M
• Friday September 13th Qualification heats K1W and C2. Semi-final C1M & K1M
• Saturday September 14th Semi-final C1W, final C1W, C1M & K1M. Teams C1W, C1M & K1M
• Sunday September 15th K1W & C2 semi-final & final. Teams K1W & C2

There will be 367 athletes from 51 nations participating including Chile, DR Congo, Morocco, Malaysia, Nepal, Lebanon and next Olympic host Brazil. The three nations that were vying for the 2020 Olympics are all represented; Spain, Japan and Turkey. Now that Tokyo is declared as the 2020 host city, the Japanese have 9 athletes providing 12 boats in these Prague Worlds. The highest ranked Japanese paddler is currently 26 year old Takuya Haneda who finishes 7th in the London2012 final and finished 5th in this year’s Augsburg World Cup race.

Home nation Czech Republic field an exceptional strong team of 14 boats, including defending C1W World Champion Kateřina Hošková, Olympic K1M silver medalist Vavřinec Hradilek and 2013 European K1M champion Jiři Prskavec, double Olympic K1W champion Štěpánka Hilgertová, Kateřina Kudějová double U23 World Champion, former C2 World Champions Jaroslav Volf & Ondřej Štěpánek and Stanislav Ježek C1M. 

The Sportscene team are here in Prague, with live race commentary on twitter, great photography and our daily race reports. Results will be available on www.sportscene.tv/liveresults.