Slalom specialist Joe Morley (GBR) surprises stacked field to take his first Adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship title

Oetz (sgh) – 24-year old Joe Morley from Leeds in Great Britain put in a commanding final run on Ötztaler Ache River today, outpaddling a field full of the best extreme kayakers in the world, one which included the seemingly unbeatable 3-time world champion Sam Sutton from New Zealand. Almost a half of a second faster than the next competitor, Morley impressively demonstrated that he is one of the fastest extreme paddlers on the planet. At the sixth anniversary of the adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship in Tirol’s Ötztal Valley, Morley’s winning time of 56.10 seconds, though not as fast as the course record set earlier in the day by kiwi Jamie Sutton (55.73), proved fast enough to win the gold medal ahead of Daniel Klotzner from Italy (56.56) and Russia’s Egor Voskoboynikov (57.51)

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150 of the world’s best whitewater, slalom and freestyle paddlers from no less than 24 different countries met in the picturesque town of Oetz to compete for world championship honours on the legendary Wellerbrücke rapids, a section of the glacier-fed Ötztaler Ache River that is considered to be one of the most difficult whitewater sections on the planet.

The Wellerbrücke rapids are solid class 5 whitewater, both technically difficult and dangerous. Any mistakes paddlers may make have high consequences. The well known rapids on the course: Champions Killer (the final drop of the 280-metre long race course) and Champions Killer Minus 1 (the hole above Champions Killer) are both feared and endeared by extreme kayakers, all of whom respect the river as much as they want to conquer it.

Athletes at the event concur that the adidas Sickline is unique. It is different from a lot of other events as athletes of many different kayaking disciplines – slalom racers, extreme kayakers and river expedition paddlers – come together in a race situation. The head-to-head format in the qualifying makes competition fair and extremely close. Any one of the top 15 finalists have the chance and the ability to earn a spot on the podium. Even with all the competition, 2013 adidas Sickline Queen Nouria Newman, often seen cheering fellow athletes on, says about the community of competitors: “It’s extreme kayaking so you look for each others back. You want to win of course, but you want your paddling buddies to be well and safe at the bottom of the race.”

In the quarter and semi final rounds on the Wellerbrücke, brothers Sam and Jamie Sutton seemed primed to dominate the field in the final clocking the top three times of the day, a surprise to no one. But as water levels rose slightly during the day the ever-shifting ‘sickline’ – the perfect, smoothest, and fastest line down the river – suited Morley best.

Known for his success in slalom kayaking, the two-time U-23 Great Britain National Champion calls this his best achievement. “For three years 150 guys have gone against Sam [Sutton] and tried to beat him over and over again. The Wellerbrücke rapid itself is hard to get down and to get down it quicker than everyone else is a good feeling. I took a bit of time out of slalom this year to concentrate on white water paddling and it’s paid off. I had to tell myself that it was possible. I just put a good run down and it’s all come through.”

21-year old Daniel Klotzner from Italy, one of the event’s dark horses, continued to show massive but consistent improvement in each of his three adidas Sickline finishes. From 46th in 2010 to 23rd in 2011, this year he has grabbed his first podium spot with second place. “I am so lucky today. It was a great race, the best time for me ever here at the adidas Sickline World Championship. Just to be in the final was a huge success for me. Now also the podium? It is the greatest success of my life.”

Egor Voskoboynikov, 27, from Moscow, Russia, racing for his fifth time at Extreme Kayak World Championship managed his first Sickline podium spot of his career with a third place finish. A river expedition paddler known for his large hands and pure power, the Russian moved quickly over the flat water on the course while also nailing the larger rapids for his best ever performance. “I tried to be super fast on the flat section. I spent half of my power there and the second half I saved for the last part. I had two mistakes, one in the upper section and one in the lower. Everyone makes mistakes, and me too, but I am happy that I could show was I could do [on the course.]”

Nouria Newman crowned Adidas Sickline Queen 

For the first time in the history of the event, the top 5 ladies in the qualification rounds got the chance battle it out on the upper Wellerbrücke section. Last year only the top three were allowed. With a total winning time of 2:12.28 after two runs, 22-year old Nouria Newman from France was crowned Adidas Sickline Queen 2013. After qualifying for the finals yesterday she exclaimed “Yes! We get to run the fun part!” as she pointed to the upper section of the Wellerbrücke. Runner-up was Toni George (2:40.46) from New Zealand, while Martina Wegman from the Netherlands ranked third (2:53.41).

Newman, who ran a very clean second run in a time that put her in the mix of the men’s top 48 said it felt mainly good. “I got a little bit of water in the front of my boat and then was pushed a little further left than I wanted to, hitting the wall a bit in the final crux, which was not a pleasant feeling, but I knew I had done a pretty good top section so I was sprinting to the finish. Sometimes the river is stronger than you or you can’t read it properly and it doesn’t work for you, but sometimes you make it and it’s all good, like today. It was really good fun.”

The event saw it’s largest number of women competitors ever, 12. It was Newman’s first time here stating she decided to come because she appreciated the effort the event was making for supporting women in the event. “Due to the support I knew there will be more girls so I decided to come and race. I’m glad I did because when I arrived on this river I was thinking I should have come here from the beginning because it’s a really nice rapid, including the section above it. The environment and everything in Ötztal is good here. I like it.”

Says Toni Georges: “It’s definitely one of the toughest races out there. It was going pretty good for me until the TNT rapid. I was just a little too far on the right. I rolled over but rolled back up quite easily and got enough speed to get through the Champions Killer minus one rapid. I rolled there quickly as well and then got as fast as I could to the finish.”

Martina Wegman, from the Netherlands, third place finisher last year and this year, had a consistent, strong finish after arriving just in time for the qualifying rounds. Mrs. Goodlines, as she is affectionately known said, “my run in the end didn’t go as I really wanted it to. I came in really late but was lucky enough to still be able to race. I wasn’t really in form this year. I was real tired yesterday. After my second run I was exhausted, especially since it’s a bit colder today. Unfortunately I got stuck in a hole. I am kind of happy that I at least made it to the bottom because I was close to pulling my spray skirt so I still enjoy being here. It wasn’t my best race but couldn’t have expected more, because I just showed up way too late and didn’t have practice. I’m just happy to be here. It’s so much fun to be at this event.”

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