Sportscene | John Gregory | @gregiej – Seniority shone through. It was great to see Slovakian’s Michal Martikan, 36, Jana Dukatova, 32, Pavol & Peter Hochschorner, 35 taking respective home wins. Excluding the C1W class (sorry Mallory), the average age of the winners was 30. This is very significant; marking a race not dominated by the U23s! Here is a short round-up of some key highlights from World Cup 3.

Liptovsky World Cup 3 review
We saw clear runs in each final and where each was faster then the semi-final run on the same course. It was a very different picture than the high penalties from Krakow or Troja.

In C1M, Matej Benus, 27, came to his home course as the winner of World Cup 2 and one of the front runners so far in this word cup to take the win in heat 1. In the final double Olympic Champion Michael Martikan edged out fellow team-mate Alexander Slafkovsky, 32, by a slim 0.02 second margin.

Prague winner, Stanislav Jezek, 38, (CZE) maintained his form this season by settling for bronze and with it the lead in this year’s World Cup series.

In C1W, comparatively young Deep Creek World silver medallist Mallory Franklin, 21 was back on form with fastest run in both the semi-final and final. Franklin said after the race; “I was pleased with my racing, especially after the tough week I had last week [in Krakow], my main focus for the race was to keep it calm and solid and I’m really glad it paid off!. I am really happy to come away with a win and I am going to continue having fun and enjoying my racing for the rest of the year.

In K1M, it is great to see former World Champion Peter Kauzer, 31, (SLO) back on the podium, behind Vavra Hradilek, 28. Both tweeted afterwards “Super stoked to take another podium and share with good fellas! @peterkauzer mathieubiaz” “Happy to be back on the podium after a while!!! Congrats to mathieubiaz and vavrovo_kayak!!” It was also one year after Kauzer had left with a shoulder injury.

A great win by Deep Creek World’s bronze medallist, Mathieu Biazzzo, 23, (FRA). The Czech men are super strong this season and now lead 1-2-3 in the World Cup standings after 3 races. See the full final table below.

In K1W Spain’s Maialen Chourraut, 32, and Marta Martinez, 25 are paddling exceptionally well this season and this race took 2nd and 3rd on the podium. It is great to see Jana Dukatova win at home and be leading the World Cup series after 3 races. "I'm so happy. For this season I did some changes in my training. I also changed my boat - I developed a new kayak model with Vajda company. Making final at all World Cups this season so far and winning the World Cup race in Liptovsky proved that I'm on a good way and I'm already looking forward to the second half of the season", responded Dukatova.

In C2 after a Krakow World Cup absent from a Slovakian C2 crew, they came back at home to stamp their authority. I have been watching Peter & Pavol Hochschorner for so many years now and it is fabulous to see them remind the C2 crews and their team-mates that they still have what it takes.

Klauss & Peche were a mere 0.21 seconds behind in the final and now lead the World Cup series after 3 races.

Race percentages

Medals were spread across 10 nations with the hosts Slovakia topping the medal table.

Medal table based on individual classes and teams

You can download all results here: www.sportscene.tv/whitewater/canoe-slalom/result-archive

World Cup Standings after 3 races

Remaining Race season:

We have a few weeks away from the World Cup series in Europe. Many paddlers from North & South America head to Toronto for the Pan Am Games in a couple of weeks. It is only one boat per class and a relatively small field. A separate preview will follow shortly.

• Pan American Games – Minden, Ontario, Canada July 17-19
• World Cup 4 – Seu d’Urgell, Spain August 7-9
• World Cup Final – Pau, France August 14-16
• Senior World Championships – Lee Valley, London, UK September 16-20

I will be providing live race tweets through the Pan Am Games, World Cup series and World Championships using #ICFslalom all season. Follow me @gregiej.

Photo credits: Zorka Hujsova, Pavol Uhrin, Irena Vanisova, Richard G, Peter Kauzer, Team Slovakia