Solkan | Nina Jelenc | Slovenian Canoe Federation - Slovenian canoeists took advantage of the home course on the Soča River in Solkan producing excellent runs in the heats of the 2013 ICF Wildwater Canoeing sprint World Championships.

All three C2 boats were at the top after two qualification runs. In the women’s kayak event Britain Hannah Brown finished the race in front of the two French paddlers who shared second place – Manon Hostens and Sixtine Malaterre.

The Slovenian team unexpectedly ruled the men’s C2 heats. The results were rather surprising for all.

The leading crew Luka Žganjar and Peter Žnidaršič are very young and haven’t been in a similar position in other important competitions, while the two other Slovenian boats did not know what to expect before the championships.

Slalom experts Luka Božič and Sašo Taljat were two-time Wildwater Canoeing World Champions back in 2010, but since then they have focused entirely on slalom and  represented Slovenia at the London Olympics.

They only paddled downriver in the last few days prior to the competition. Božič and Taljat were only 0,01 seconds behind their team-mates. The story of a third Slovenian canadian canoe double is even more interesting. The two top C1 paddlers Simon Hočevar and Blaž Cof saw an opportunity before the Championships and decided to try their luck also in C2 – they only had two weeks of training together. The decision proved to be right as they were third after the heats.

“This is a pleasant surprise. Yesterday I didn’t know where would end up, since this is our first race. I was very surprised after third place. After the first run Simon and I agreed to miss the second run in case we still held the same position, because we have many races and we need to rest for the finals and Saturday’s competition. This is fantastic,” said Blaž Cof.

After great results were achieved in the heats, the Slovenian team now expects more from the team runs. “People asked me before if we are favourites for the team runs and I did not know what to answer because I didn’t know where we belong. Now I could say we’re capable of winning a medal both in individual and team events,” added Cof.

French favourites Alzingre – Claudepierre, who are also reigning European Champions, were fourth and their compatriots Leclerc – Pete were fifth.

British paddler Hannah Brown dominated women’s heats. She was 1,72 seconds ahead of the two French representatives who shared second place – Manon Hostens and Sixtine Malaterre. Experienced German paddler Sabine Fuesser was fourth and another French woman Charlene Le Corvaisier was fifth.

The final runs under floodlights start at 21.30.

You can follow live results here: www.sportscene.tv/liveresults