Flash Quotes Slalom World Championships
This page will be populated with flash quotes as the action unfolds at the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in London that runs from the 16-20th September.
Sunday 20th September C1M, C1W and K1M
Silver: Nuria Vilarrubla (ESP) C1W Bronze
"The final run was not so good but I fought a lot and I didn’t give up so I am so happy."
"The plan was a little bit conservative, with the intention to make the boat go so fast on the lines, to open the lines and then make it run a lot. The plan was good, it didn’t work in some places but I’m happy."
"This is my best medal in a world championships and in a senior world championships it’s my first medal so I’m so happy."
"The season was so long because we started in April and I started really hard, but I’m so happy with the season."
Katerina Hoskova (CZE) C1W Silver
"It was perfect, I’m very happy that I am second."
"I just wanted to be in the final and then in the final enjoy the atmosphere and try to do a good run without any mistakes. When I was on the last upstream and decided to go direct on the last combination I heard everyone cheering for me and it was so perfect when I passed it and went to the finish line."
"This is my second medal, my first one was four years ago, so now to get the second place so it’s good to get a medal again. Now I can say that the season was the best for four years."
"We are not an Olympic programme so I will watch this Olympic drama from selection to Rio and I hope it will be great fun."
"I think I will be too old (for 2020 selection) but maybe I will try to get there. We will see, it’s a long way away."
Silver: Benjamin Savsek (SLO) C1M Silver
"I feel amazing because I got the second place once again so I’m so happy."
"It was a very good run, there were little mistakes but I am really happy to have a silver medal."
"I was feeling a little pressure before the start because I was the last to go but I focussed on my run and my paddling and I did it without a touch so I’m really happy to do it smoothly down the course."
"I made mistake on the middle of the course but at the bottom I was doing well, so I was feeling I could get a medal but maybe not the win."
"It was quite good paddling here because of the crowd and they give you some energy down the course even if you do a mistake."
Sebastian Schubert (GER) K1M semifinal
"On 11 to 12 I lost the position on the stopper and it was too low, I lost three seconds there and then I didn’t have a good run afterwards. I was well prepared for this race but I didn’t have a good weekend."
"It wasn’t my season. I had two finals on the world cup and the final in Pau. I was racing just three world cup so maybe I was missing some race performances this year because I dint do so many races. I was trying this year to see if it works for next season. It looked good yesterday for the Germans so I thought maybe it will be good for us today. But it wasn’t for me so I will have to work out where the problems were."
Hannes Aigner (GER) K1M semifinal
"It’s a little disappointing, I had a good feeling today but the course was quite hard but I had problems and now it’s not fast enough for the finals."
"The first part of the run was ok but then I made a big mistake at 12 /13 where many other paddlers messed up semis. I tried to race harder but it didn’t work out, and I was too slow."
"But my good memories of this course will be bigger than the bad experience here today so I think I will still always be lucky when I come here."
"The season was not so good, everything was focussed on the world and I messed it up so it’s disappointing but that’s the sport."
Joe Clarke (GBR) K1M semifinal
"99 percent of the run I was really happy with. I had a touch in gate 16 which I didn’t let phase me. I carried on and I didn’t really know what happened after that, I’ll have to watch the video, but there seems there was a decision of a half head on gate 18. That’s put me outside the final where I’d like to be."
"For me I’m paddling and everything goes past so fast."
"For once, this being a home world championships and the way I’ve been paddling this season, I didn’t feel I needed to take any risks on that run. 99 percent was risk free but there happened to be a slight surge in the water on gate 18. It’s an inconsistent sport but you’ve got to make it as consistent as possible for your own techniques."
"We train all year for this which is the main competition, there are Rio qualification spots which fortunately we’ve managed to get one for GB."
"My paddling has been going really well this season. we’ve got a fantastic crowd here today and it just didn’t got my way today."
"I’m still in a really good place and there are so many positives to take away from that, that I won’t beat myself up. I’m gutted about that but in five weeks time (for selections) don’t worry I’ll be in my top form again."
"This is the seventh race of the season for me, I’ve made four finals so in the men’s K1 that’s a pretty good success rate. So a really consistent season, stepping up in speed and consistency with that speed, so there’s lots of positives from that race and in five weeks time there’s Olympic selections here so watch out for it."
"We have a very talented team and I’m looking forward to the team event because we have three paddlers who are all very close to each other. That’s the winning formula to a team."
Luka Bozic (SLO) C1M semifinal
"At the start I felt really good, I had power in my hands and I don’t know what went wrong on the course.
It has been quite a good season in C1. I have a lot of finals which was the main goal for me this year but it was not the best on the World Championships except yesterday’s final in C2. I must go away and think about it and decide how was the season was."
"Selections starts here, now it's Benus in the front because he is the best this year. Now we have selections in Tazen and the European Championships."
Sideris Tasiadis (GER) C1M semifinal
"I had too many touches, three times and six penalty seconds is too much to go to the final. I was fit but after the first touch I tried to give more power to be in the final and after the second touch I knew that’s over for the final for me this year, I couldn’t do it this year."
"It was a good season for me because I was in every final, only here at the Words I’m not in the final. But I’m proud as I am the silver medallist in the Europeans and it’s also a great result."
"The team is good and they are also fit. Maybe today we have another medal, maybe in the K1 men because there three guys are good and in top form."
"Our selections are in April and May, we have four races. (main competition for place) Franz Anton and Jan Benzine."
Saturday 19th K1W and C2M
Gold: K1W Katerina KUDEJOVA (CZE)
"I am sick so I was already happy to be in the Final. Even more now, it’s awesome!"
"It’s a difficult course but this is how I like them so I was quite happy when I saw it. I was confident going into the final. I was a bit cautious of gate 5 but I did not make any mistake, it was perfect."
Silver: K1W Ricarda Funk (GER)
"I’m so happy that I have a medal. This is my first World Championships medal and I can’t believe it."
"It was a really difficult course and I had some trouble in the middle of it so it was important to stay focussed and push hard even though I had some mistakes."
"I tried to watch the others’ runs on the tv before me to see what they were doing and maybe getting some tips and I think it worked."
"In World Cups I have a World Cup medal third place in Krakow and I was second in the European Championships this season but this is the best day of my career."
"It is so great for Germany that we have three medals so far, a gold, silver and bronze and we will see what happens tomorrow, it’s going to be interesting."
[Olympic qualifying] "It’s going to be a really tough competition next year and I will give my best and we will see who gets the spot. I have never been to an Olympics so it’s still a dream."
Bronze: K1W Melanie Pfeifer (GER)
"It was nice to be in the final and I tried to be better than in my semifinal and it was better."
"I’m a little bit surprised to win a medal today because I was sick last week and it was not easy for the brain, but now I am feeling happy and well."
"The course was very hard today but for the worlds its best to have a hard course and I like hard courses. It’s better than to just have to paddle straight here, you have to think about a lot of gates and concentrate and I prefer that kind of course. The team race will be very hard."
"Germany had a good preparation so it’s good that we are winning so many medals today."
"I won a bronze medal too in the worlds so two medals in two years is very good and I’m very proud of myself."
(Olympic qualification) "is a long time to go and it’s going to be hard to see who gets the place."
Gold: C2M Franz Anton (w/Jan Benzien) (GER)
"I’m really happy, we had a really good semifinal and now a nearly perfect final so it couldn’t be better. The first goal was to get to the final here and everything in the final was the chocolate on the cake."
"The course today was much harder, the qualification was too easy I think. You have to be clean and quite quick to even get through the semifinal and now it was quite a tough course for the World Championship final."
"There are Olympic selections in April, four races and three counts so we have to be the best there again."
"I have to race tomorrow in C1 so I will see how it works, but I think we do both for next year at the Olympics so we won’t specialise for a category."
Bronze: C2M Gauthier Klauss and Matthieu Peche (FRA)
Peche: "We prefer to be among the first to go into the Final and live the Final from the bank after doing a good run rather than starting last and following the final on the big screen when in fact you don’t really want to know what’s going on."
"I sincerely thought we would end up fourth again, especially at the very end when Florence/Hounslow were the lasts to go. We knew that even with a touch they could step on the podium."
"It feels a bit like a revenge of London 2012, when the British won gold and silver while we were watching them celebrate from the bank. This time it’s our turn to be on the podium."
Klauss: "It was a good run, but it’s hard not to think that we could have done better and paddled faster. It’s a tough design on a tough course, so we fought until the very bottom of it. But we really, really wanted the title, so this third place is somehow bitter."
"Being second and third here in London is very good for France but we know that the national selection for Rio Olympics will be very tight next year. Only a victory here could have given an advantage to one of the crews."
Peche: "We won two World Cups, a bronze medal at the Worlds, we are ranked number one in the World. C2 is a beautiful sport and I think we proved it again today. We will keep fighting until the very end to defend our sport." [The disipline is due to be replaced by C1W at the 2020 Games].
Klauss: "Overall it’s a good season. We just miss this damn title!"
Fiona Pennie K1W 8th
“The crowd was great and it was great to paddle on home water, it was a fantastic atmosphere.
“You couldn’t really be too aggressive on such a course and there were so many low poles as well you had to really focus and a lot of the upstreams were really low.
“Unfortunately I didn’t manage to quite get the right line at gate three and thereafter I knew I had to push out of that last upstream to get across and I just didn’t have the arms to hold on.”
Kimberley Woods K1W 10th
“I thought I was in the middle of every single gate and I am speechless to know this is the outcome, but I guess the judges have called what is fair."
“I knew as soon as I crossed the finish line that I had put everything into it and put my best run down and I couldn’t ask for anything more. It definitely gives me a big confidence boost up to Olympic selection."
“It has been amazing, hearing the crowd, it just pushes you on to get to the finish lie as fast as you can.”
Lizzie Neave K1W 7th
“I am really happy to be in the top 10 but disappointed with my final run and made mistakes on moves I know I can do."
“It was a really hard course, very technical with a lot of things to plan for, but I did feel quite composed on the start line. I was confident in my plan, I just unfortunately didn’t quite deliver it."
“It is great to have three British boats in the final. We are all quite neck and neck with each other so it will be really exciting to see what happens at Olympic selection.”
Ana Satila (BRA) K1W Semifinal Exit
"I’m really happy with the run, I had some mistakes but it’s a hard course and I did my best so I’m feeling good."
"It’s really nice to paddle here and a good experience for the year and it will be my second Olympics next year so I will try to put all my experience of racing all the years into that. It will be so fun at next year’s games. It will be amazing. Competing at home will be completely different. Rio will be really fun and we hope everything will be ready."
Peter Skantar (SVK) (w/Ladislav Skantar) C2M Semifinal Exit
"It was not good because we made two big mistakes and we lose a lot of time. it was a very bad season for us."
Emilie Fer (FRA) K1W Semifinal Exit
"Sometimes you have a good feeling and sometimes not. Today wasn’t mine but I’m confident for the future. It was just a step for Olympic preparation."
"Each race is really important for me but I don’t know how it wasn’t good on the water."
"It was a hard design but I like it when it is harder at our level.
"The season was not bad, sometimes good and sometimes not good. I have won one world cup and there were some good times so I’m confident."
Corinna Kuhnle (AUT) K1W Semifinal Exit
"Obviously I messed it up pretty bad. It fell apart once I touched gate three and I had a second touch on gate four with the gates being pretty low. I couldn’t get back into my rhythm any more and then it’s slipped out of my hands."
"The course had a bit more offsets than the qualifications course but it’s a World Championships with the world’s best canoeists. Today I definitely wasn’t one of them. If you want to win one of these races you have to be able to race a hard course as well and I already messed up the easy part at the top so I didn’t get a chance to race the lower part today."
"It's Olympic selection this year and I would like to qualify a sport and considering that it wasn’t a good season. So the disappointment is bigger than being happy about the overall World Cup."
Friday 18th September K1M
Katleho Mahlaba (RSA) K1M Heat 1
"I’m very excited to be here, it’s an incredible experience and opportunity of a lifetime for us because slalom is a big thing for us. In South Africa we are developing so we are trying to push hard for it."
"Slalom is still developing and we have a lot of young people coming in and we are developing our coaches but in the mountains there are some guys who want to join."
"I started paddling 2007 when some guys from France came to visit, with their boats and asked who wants to join and who knows swim. I knew how to swim so they tested me and got me involved. I started racing 2009 in Africa, my first race was in Kenya and I started to be on the programme for the ICF in 2010. They took me overseas to join the other guys for training and it was quite an experience because I went back home and taught the other guys what I learnt. So we developed quite quickly."
"This is my first sport and I love it."
"I have done world cups in Bratislava, in France, Germany and Spain. This is my first worlds and it’s huge. It’s a big experience and I can’t wait to tell the guys about it. We have to train hard and we see some more people racing with me. It’s nice to see some of the people you usually see on the internet and see them live."
"I would like to see myself some day in the Olympics because my coach inspired which is a lot when he went to Beijing in 2008. Cyprian Ngidi and Cameron Mcintosh, who competed for South Africa in C2. They inspired me a lot so since then I have been pushing hard and training as hard as I can. the chances I get to train at the wild water I take."
"We built our own course on a natural river which is quite good. In my job they know I do slalom so if my event comes they give me time for training and go to the event."
Arnaldo Cespedes Perez (CRC) K1m Heat 1
"I competed last year in deep Creek, I wasn’t that good but I’m much better this time."
"My first experience canoeing was when I was seven years old with a guy from Costa Rica who went to Atlanta 96 Olympics. After that he started a kayaking school so I got involved in the pool."
"We have a lot of good rivers, a lot of volume rivers so we practise freestyle. There used to be a beautiful well know slalom course where I paddled in the 80s and 90s and people all round the world used to come here but then they built a dam for electricity so now it’s just flat water which is a shame."
"Now I train on flat water with gates and we have small river 40 minutes from home."
"My goal is to make the sport bigger and me being here with another guy from Costa Rica, the idea is to start to develop this sport and involve more kids. Then probably we can see."
Marcel Potocny (HUN) K1M Heat 1
"Gyor is now the city where I am based. I’m originally from Slovakia which is where I started slalom and I moved to Hungary to compete for them because we want to try to start the slalom in Hungary in a few years."
"We want to start with small kids first. In Bratislava, maybe we can start there and they are thinking about building an artificial course in Budapest. There are plans so hopefully that works."
"I’m coaching the Chinese team right now here and they are doing well. One C2 is in semis, two girls are in semis, the guys in K1 have done good runs."
"Today’s run was alright, there were a few mistakes and some of the upstream were not like they were planned."
"My best place on the worlds was 23rd in 2009 in Spain. Hopefully this one will be a good one. I was here at 2011 for the pre Olympic Games and it’s a really beautiful course which I really like. It is one of my favourites in Europe."
Vavrinec Hradilek K1M Heat 1
"It was a hard race, I knew it was going to be very tough because it's an easy course so you can't afford any mistakes. I knew it wasn't a fast run but it was about making it down with out any mistakes."
"It's amazing it's something that I really appreciate, that we can race at the same venue three years after the Games, for us the legacy of the sport is very important and to support British Canoeing and all the facilities to race here is, for me, very important."
"I feel generally pretty good, the last couple of days I've had some breathing problems, some bronchitis. But thanks to the Slovak team doctor it's getting better."
"It's going to be a tight race I'm excited to be part of it."
On the gate sets that many consider easy: "No for sure it has to be difficult so you can divide the best ones out of the average ones. We need hard course to give the opportunity and recognise the difference of the best."
Jiri Prskavec (CZE) K1M Heat 1
"I was quite happy with my run. At the second upstream I was a little close so I had to almost flip inside to not touch it but in the ends two seconds behind the winner and going to the semis is easier and that’s what I wanted, so it’s perfect."
"I won U23 World Championships and this one is the senior so it’s much harder but I’ll try my best. I think I’m in good form, good shape so I’ll try my best and hope I can make it into the finals."
"I’m five years in the senior team so it’s not really stepping up for me but I want to have good results in the senior class and we’ll see where it goes."
"The year has been pretty good. After 10 years I changed my boat for a new shape and it’s been a huge change and I’m World and European champion u23s so this is the last race I want to do good at."
"The new boat is turning much faster, the old was a 10 year old shape and pretty hard. It’s why I skipped last two world cups to get use to the boat on home course in Prague. For two months I tried to do lots of techniques on the water and I think I got used to it so it’s the perfect boat for this course and I hope I can show that. "
Peter Kauzer (SLO) K1m Heat 1
"I was just happy to come through because I almost missed the start. I had in mind the first start list that was out, my time was six or seven minutes later and everyone was screaming come on it’s your turn. I was sprinting to the conveyor belt and running up there, setting the boat closed my spray deck and went to the starting block and the lady said just go because it was just five seconds to go."
"First time in my 25 year career I nearly missed the start. The first couple of gates I took it easy because I want to catch my breath and not be so tired in the course. I just managed down the course with an ok run with no major mistakes."
"The first run is to qualify for the semis then to fight for the final. That’s behind me and I’m happy."
"The overall World Cup winning isn’t what it says about my form because I had a really turbulent beginning of the season, I had ups and downs. I did a good result at the Europeans because it was my first major race after my injury, then the first to world cups were bad and I managed myself better on the course in Liptovsky when I got my first podium for a while."
"Then I had a break, I changed model of my boat which was a good thing, focussed on my runs. Then everything was like it should be except today’s running on the start. I feel good in the boat and I love every moment I spent on this course even though I had a bad experience in the past but that’s behind me and I’m just glad I’m here at the worlds fighting for the medals."
"I can be a good competitor to the rest of the field."
"I have two golds in the worlds and to get a medal this week would be an awesome ending to the season. I know I am capable and I just need to do my run the way it know it and let’s see what happens."
Daniele Molmenti (ITA) K1M Heat 1
"This is one of the best courses in the world and paddling here is really good for us and for me especially there are lots of good memories on this course. Today the run was ok, it was enough, but I was really not focussed at all at the start. I don’t know why and I just tried to go down without making big mistakes. It was good for now but I have to change my mind a bit for Sunday."
"I wasn’t at the World Cup here last year (I did a UK opening race) so this is the first real race I have been here."
"I have started to be one of the older (athletes) so I try to get fit for the real moment of the season, which is this weekend."
"I start ok for initial selection then the World Cups were so so, just the last world cup was pretty good and without a touch I could have won. This means that all my training programme is on schedule to be here really fit, and this is my goal so let’s see on Sunday."
Hannes Aigner (GER) K1M Heat 1
"It’s pretty exhausting, the course is pretty physical so I think it was a little bit surprised that I was under the top seven when I came down because I didn’t have a good feeling. So I’m really glad that I made it to the semifinal on the first attempt."
"Always when I come here I have fun and good memories and I really enjoy paddling here because I think it’s the best course in the world for training."
"I spent five training camps here this year and the last year the British Open so I always try to come back to this venue."
"I had a pretty good start to the season with national selections, but afterwards at the Euros I thought I could do better than place 14 or so on our home course. The world cups were also not so good so it’s a little bit of training to focus on the worlds so I hope I can make a good result here. Otherwise I have a lot of fun training here in London."
Thursday 17th September C1M and C1W
Liam Jegou (IRL) C1M Heat 2
"It was a sloppy run this morning and a difficult start to the competition so I’m happy to finally put down a solid run that was at my level."
"I got caught up on gate 20 which cost me first place for now."
"I’ve made two semifinals this year in Liptovsky and Sau but never made a final. This is my second world championships, I was in Prague in 2013. I’m really hoping to make the semis here so we’ll see."
"You have to make the semis to qualify for the Olympics so we’ll see what happens today. In every category it’s very difficult but in C1 there’s only 10 spots at the World Championships and there are a lot more than ten good nations."
Jordi Domenjo (ESP) C1M Heat 2
"I’m not convinced my time will be enough to make it to semis because there are so many great paddlers to go and there are only ten spots."
"I’m content with my run but not super happy because I lost a bit of time especially on the top part of the course."
The course is great and the venue is amazing, it has so many different features, it’s so challenging regardless of whether you have an easy of difficult course. It’s amazing to be here in front of the crowd, you can hear them cheer. It helped the last few strokes having the crowd here cheering.
I got third in the 2010 Worlds in C1 men, that was my best result.
I was retired last season but the way things worked I finally got able to race this year so I don’t expect anything,
The question every athlete makes of themselves is, am I going to be able to do my best? So that’s my goal. I’m just having a lot of fun and if I get any good results I’ll be happy with that, if not I’m ok also."
Ryan Westley (GBR) C1M Heat 2
"The only other time I had to go through in the second round, in the senior Europeans this year, I missed it and I missed qualification altogether."
"So I was really nervous and as I came towards it I realised I had to go canoeing, which we do every day, I got more calm and then really enjoyed that last run. I was coming through the bottom and I finished one of the bigger moves on the course around the oval section, I knew I was on a good run and confident it was going to put me through so I was able to enjoy that bottom section and able to take in the crowd a little bit more."
"I tried not to drop the focus but I wanted to make the most of the home race which was really enjoyable. Hearing the scream of the finish line was a bit more than my mum and dad which I’m used to. Hopefully I’ll get more come the weekend."
"C1 paddling in Britain is coming on amazingly. We now have four boats and everyone has made a senior final at Worlds, or World Cups. It’s really competitive, trying to make the team is hard enough which proves we’ve got the depth."
"I think my improvements have been slightly more than my results. Last year was my breakthrough season, this year I have felt like I’m a much better paddler. I haven’t had quite the results I wanted but it’s been a higher quality season with pretty much a good result at every race."
"I just hope I can do the same thing on the big stage in front of the big crowd."
Michal Martikan (SVK) C1M Heat 2
"It was not so good, also in the second run I lost a couple of seconds globally and one touch added to my time, so it’s still possible to be faster."
"It was good to have a second run because of training and now we have two days off. So I was lucky I could go second run."
"Lee Valley is a beautiful place and I like to train here but I don’t like the course like this. These kind of gates small kids are able to paddle and I think it’s not ok for the World Championships. The semifinals and finals it’s more technical course but still nothing special."
"First run was about judge’s decision. I still feel I didn’t have 50 second penalty. In the second run I didn’t feel any pressure. It was great for me to paddle second run and have one more very good training before semifinals and finals."
Nadine Weratschnig (AUT) C1W Heat 2
"It was a great feeling to paddle down there, with the boat was moving well and I just had the flow."
"I had too many penalties but the time was good. This year I won the European Championships but this is my first senior worlds. I’m 17 and moving up to seniors is a big step. I want to collect some experience there and that’s all and it is a perfect day to get into the semifinals."
David Florence (GBR) C1M heat 1
“It wasn’t my finest run, but it was really only one mistake on the last upstream that cost me the time. Other than that I was up there with all the fastest out there.
“Job done through on first run through to the semi-finals which is what I wanted from today really.”
Adam Burgess (GBR) C1M heat 1
“I am really pleased and very relieved to get through this morning. It gives me a lot of confidence to really back myself to hold it together to the finish and keep a clean run. I had a super shaky start and I didn’t really do any of it to plan, maybe one upstream, so I was fighting all the way, but super happy that I had that composure and control to hold it together and keep it clean.
“I am loving every minute of these championships. I am taking it all in, the sun is out, the home crowd is absolutely amazing and it is such a big opportunity for us.”
Mallory Franklin (GBR) C1W heat 1
“My run wasn’t very good and my tracking was all over the place. I haven’t really been in my boat that much with injuries.
“It was always just about getting a solid run in and I did it. I would have liked to have not been messing about sideways as much as I was, but I kept it clean and it was enough to go through.
“It was the exits out of the two deep ups that were the problem. The rest of it wasn’t great but it was solid. I couldn’t get my tail tracking out behind me so I was spinning out sideways which cost me a lot of time.
“My only hopes for the semis is to get a solid run out, try and perform like I know I can and hope that will do what it needs to do.”
Eilidh Gibson (GBR) C1W heat 1
“It was good and I felt pretty chilled on the start line. I was really happy to get a good clean run and to get that time - I didn’t expect that to be honest.
“There was a group of kids shouting my name on the start line which was pretty cooI and hearing the crowd cheering pushed me on a bit.
“It is nice to start my competition and hopefully it will continue from here and another two clean runs would be good.”
Kimberley Woods (GBR) heat 1
“After paddling in kayak yesterday I feel I have a really good feel for the course now. But on the start it was a clean slate. It was a difficult course for C1 and even some of the men were struggling with it at the start. It was because of where the upstreams were placed quite close to the flow, so you have got to have a lot of turn before the gate and be quite strong at the end of the course because it is quite physical out there.
“I was hoping to get through on first run because it’ not a nice place to be on second runs so I am glad I managed to put a really solid run down. There was a lot of pressure yesterday in kayak going into second run and to do such am amazing run has given me a lot of confidence. I knew with my skills on the water in C1 with a solid run I could easily get through.
“Being able to train on this water day in day out we have got a home advantage really, but having such a good team spirit, supporting each other it is great to see us all having success.”
Jose Silva (VEN) C1M Heat 1
"There is one more competitor in K1 men from Venezuela and we are in C2M as well."
"Canoeing is a beginning sport in Venezuela, in the development programme. There are a few of us who like the sport a lot and we try every day to get more. We have natural rivers but not specially for slalom courses, not yet. We think about it every day getting a slalom course. We have nice rivers and we can paddle all the year because we have 12 months summer and we have nice rivers in the mountains."
"This is my first competition here, I didn’t compete in the World Cups."
"My run wasn’t good and I hope to do better in the afternoon."
Jean Pierre Bourhis (SEN) C1M Heat 1
"I’m happy for my run but disappointed for the up left to 16 because I made a roll which was a really big surprise but I kept my mind together for the end of the race and in the end it was not so bad, it was quite fast."
"My ambition is to have a slalom course in Senegal one day have more paddlers. I paddle in France at the moment, which is the reason I am here, but in the future I want to work hard to encourage more youngsters to paddle in Senegal."
Christos Tsakmakis (GRE) C1M Heat 1
"I have lost count of the number of World Championships I have been to."
"I was seventh at the Olympics in Beijing and the plan here is to take the spot for the Olympics. We have a few paddlers in Greece but with the financial situation it’s hard to survive. The C2 paddlers can’t come because of the situation. I live in Augsburg."
Casey Eichfeld (USA) C1M Heats Qualified
"I’m fairly pleased, there were a couple of areas where I felt I lost a little bit of time but I was keeping the pressure on enough to keep it together and keep that time down."
"I gave been to words since 2007 every year so I have a good bit of experience, some of it in C1 some in C2. The 2011 worlds I was nineteenth in C1 just missing the Olympic qualification. For this worlds we are already coming in with a guaranteed C1 going into this Olympics so there’s not a lot of pressure on but it would be nice to re qualify here again and open up any other spots for the Pan Am Games."
"It’s one of my favourite courses, big white water which is right up my alley. I love that it’s consistent and there really are no flat sections that requires you to pull"
Luka Bozic (SLO) C1M Heat 1 Qualified
"The course is not easy, I was ok on the start and I felt very good. At the end of the course I got some power in my hands and its ok I’m very happy fort his qualification run."
"I have good memories of this course, I won C2 last year. The course is really nice and I got here at the first Olympic Games and I love it, the people are really friendly."
"I’m focussing on C2 in the first place because I have more options for the Olympics there but I am going to fight also in C1. In Slovenia we have a lot of good guys in C1 but I am prepared for all of this. It was a good season in C21 because I made probably all the finals. In C2 we had some problems but now we are felling very strong and I’m happy with it."
Nuria Vilarrubla (ESP) C1W Heat 1 Qualified
"The run was good, I made some mistakes but I felt good on the water, I felt confident so it’s a good start and I’m happy."
"The ladies from Great Britain are so strong here and they know the course really well so they will be hard to beat, and of course Jess Fox is always on the top. It will be hard but I am so happy to be here."
"I have never been here before the worlds, just one week training and I’m really happy. It's a great course and I like it a lot. It’s the feeling inside the water. It’s so big bit at the same time it’s so soft, you can feel the movements pretty good and I like it."
"My aim is to arrive at the final and then to play my best cards there and try to be at the top. But like always you have to take it step-by-step and enjoy every moment."
"My season was really good, I won the under 23 worlds. That was my first worlds medal, the best start to the season which gave me a lot of confidence to keep moving forwards during the season. Pau World Cup was great."
Viktoria Wolffhardt (AUT) C1W Heat 1 Qualified
"It was good, I made it through even though it wasn’t the perfect run but I’m happy to race on Sunday again."
"It’s a good course, a big course. It doesn’t matter which course they design here because it will always be difficult to race down here."
"I was second and third in World Cups in Liptovsky and Poland, third in overall World Cups and pretty happy."
"Here for the World Cup last year but only in k1, I finished eleventh which was really good for me but never in C1 so it was a big challenge to come back here and race C1 and not K1. Last year the federation didn’t allow me to race C1 so the last World Cup I did in C1 was 2012 and that was the only World Cup I did before this season."
"Jess is always the one to beat but there are so many others. Nuria had a really good season and obviously the British girls can go really fast and the Czech girls."
"C1 is getting much more competitive as it comes to the Olympic Games in 2020 more federations are encouraging the young girls to do it so it’s definitely getting better."
Jess Fox (AUS) C1W Heat 1 Qualified
"I ended up third so I’m happy with that because the goal was to get through on the first run today and improve and build throughout."
"Yesterday I was disappointed not to make it through on the first run and had a big mistake on gate 18."
"Today I really wanted to make sure I got all the gates and had some smooth lines, especially around 17/18. Now I have a rest day tomorrow and can look forward to Saturday in K1."
"Looking from the bank I thought the course looked quite simple and infact it was a bit harder than I thought, quite technical in the ups to keep the speed on the boat as they are quite low in the eddies and close to the current on the drops."
"Every course here is challenging because the water here is big and powerful and you can feel your arms through the whole run."
"There s a few girls leading the pack. Kim Woods for example who is putting down some really good fast times and pushing us to catch up to her. I think the whole class has improved a lot. There’s some new girls who have started this year so it’s great to see the sport developing. Since 2009 we can look at it and be proud of how far we have come."
Katerina Hoskova (CZE) C1W Heat 1 Qualified
"Semifinal was the goal for today so I feel good with that."
"This course is so hard for us but the course is easier than usual today, with no spins, so I like it."
"I want to get to the final and enjoy it on the Olympic course. In the final everyone can win so we will see.
"The season was really good when I see the results but I didn’t make so many good runs, only one I think in the first World Cup when I won. I hope it will change here and I will also make some good runs. Today I made the first good run so it the first step."
C1 is getting harder and harder to get into the semifinal so and now on the start list its 38 women so I think it’s a good improvement."
Wednesday 16th September C2M and K1W
C2M Saso Taliat (w/Luka Bozic) (SLO) Heats 1st Run
"Fifth place in the qualification was quite ok, it’s enough for the semifinals and this was our goal today."
"The season hasn’t been as good as last year but we managed to reach some good results in the second part of the season. We finished fifth in La Sau world cup and seventh in Pau."
"We have good memories from lee Valley last year especially because we won. It's a nice place but it’s a different course from last year so it doesn’t help much, maybe just a good feeling and good memory from last year."
"We’ve been here four times this year on training camps so we are quite familiar with it."
"Every boat has Olympic qualification in the back of their minds and it’s quite a big pressure in this race because it also decides what you are going to do next year. It’s a little bit more difficult than other world championships."
Ladislav Skantar (w Peter Skantar) (SLO) Heats 1st Run
"Lee Valley very nice place and we are satisfied with our run because we don’t make big mistakes, but the run was fast which is good and we qualified."
"We have been training hard and the important thing is the semi final. Everything is focussed on that."
"It will be very difficult to qualify for the Olympics because there is just one place for each country."
Luka Bozic (SLO) and Saso Taljat (SLO) are aiming to repeat their 2014 success when they won gold at the world championships in the men’s C2.
C2M Anton Franz / Jan Benzein (GER) Heats 1st Run, Qualified 10th
“It’s ok, we are qualified had a good run, not perfect but solid so we are happy.”
“This season we were second in the European Championships which was quite small time of the first place and we have been in every final in the World Cups so we have been quite happy with this. Now we will see if we make the final tomorrow and what we can do.”
“We will take this week step-by-step, first we will try to have a good World Championships. Then we will have selection next year in Leipzig and Augsburg so we have to be faster than now.”
“It’s a really nice venue to paddle at, one of the nicest in the world and a lot of fun.”
“We have had three training camps here, every one a week long so we have had enough. The course in Leipzig is quite close to this course here so we are well prepared.”
K1W Emilie Fer (FRA) Heats 1st Run fastest qualifier
"It was a good run. know it was qualification but it was not easy entering the race. I prefer the final day because you know what you have to do. Qualification is more difficult mentally but it was a good day."
"It’s really difficult to do what you want to do on this course. The movements are always challenging and it’s a tricky course, one of the most difficult in the world."
"It’s open and anyone can win here."
"The beginning of the season was not so good for me but it’s usually like that. I had a back problem then and today it’s behind me, it’s better."
"I started racing at 16 after starting canoeing at 11. I’m 32 now. But I think this will be my last world championships because I’m 32 and I want to do other things. I hope to compete in the Olympics. We will see"
K1W Ana Satila (BRA) Heats 1st Run second fastest qualifier
"It was so good, I’m so happy with my run and now I have the second fastest time. Now I’m so happy, it’s always good fun paddling here."
"I was here in London 2012 for the Olympics and this year I spent two weeks here before the worlds and it’s so good."
In 2012 I was so young and I was just here for the experience and now it’s completely different. Brazil have a big sponsor and also more support so we have all improved."
Having the Olympics in Rio will be so nice because now we are getting ready the course and we are all excited. Now we will try to do our best. I am no.1 [Brazil] in C1 and K1 at the moment but we will have a big national selection next year for the Olympics so it will be really good to see."
K1W Corinna Kuhnle (AUT) Heats 1st Run qualifier
"It was a safe run, I was going for a safe line. It’s not what I usually do going wide lines around the pole, going for the safe lines, but it was necessary to do that today."
"I raced here at the Olympics and I came eighth. At that time I was reigning World Champion so I was aiming to come higher than eighth place, so that was a bit of a disappointment but in the World Cup last year here I came second. I had the fastest time but I touched two gates so I know I can go faster on this course if I have a good run and that’s what I’m trying to do."
"Hard physical courses suit me and I won the World Championships on two big courses in Bratislava and Tacen. I like going on big whitewater and this is probably my favourite course in the world."
"The first part of the season wasn’t so good for me. I was ill a couple of times and had a few small injuries and I recovered well during the break in the summer and ended up winning the overall World Cups. So that was lucky for me and I feel good now, confident paddling and I’m enjoying it."
C2M Florence/Hounslow (GBR) Heats 1st Run qualified
Richard Hounslow said: “Today was just about getting the job done. You don’t win medals from today but I am really happy to have got through on first run and we now have a few days before the semi-finals. There is still a lot of time for us to pick up on we were a bit slow in the middle section but the semi-final is on a different course so we will go away and review the run and come back on Saturday.
“You can’t really get too hung up on the Olympic quota place you just have to focus on your own race and then it should take care of itself. You can’t take anything for granted and even though we know this course well, the international guys want to beat us on our home course.”
David Florence added: “We have already had the Olympic Games here so it is really exciting to now have the worlds which is an even bigger event with more athletes and all of the top guys here. We are due some good weather for the weekend so hopefully lots of people will come along and there will be a good atmosphere.”
C2M Proctor/Stott (GBR) Heats 1st Run qualified
Etienne Stott said: “It was a good attacking run but it was really intense. We had a lot of uncertainty leading into the race and we hadn’t been able to train over the last couple of days on the white water and didn’t know if we could actually take this run on. But we were really committed to it and went really hard at it and it was a decent enough attempt to get us through on the first run which is the achievement we were after.
“It has been horrible the last few days and there were bordering on a few tearful moments this morning when I didn’t think I was going to be racing today or able to carry it off. But to get through makes me feel very proud and I count it as one of the toughest moments of my whole career. I am proud of myself and Mark and our incredible support team that all contributed to me getting me out there.”
Mark Proctor said: “I am over the moon. I kept having the thought in the back of my mind that if we could just get through today, we could then see where we are at. Coming in to watch the demo runs last night and seeing the course I was confident we could take it on as there weren’t too many crunch moves or hard technical moves, so I was quite confident that if we could just get on the start line in would be ok.”
C2M Burgess/Pitt (GBR) Heats 2nd Run qualified
Adam Burgess said: “I am very relieved but quite happy to get a second chance to paddle and we performed more to our standard this run. We didn’t do anything differently, the plan was good this morning we just finished on the wrong side of the line unfortunately. But we are really happy we could put one down and it is good for our confidence going into the semis.
Greg Pitt added: “It started off a bit ropey but we stuck to our plan and it came together in the end so I’m very happy.
K1W Fiona Pennie (GBR) Heats 1st Run qualifier
“It was very important to get through on first run this morning. We were a bit unclear at the start of the season with the new qualification system about how it would work and if it would be better to have a second run to get the practice on the course. But having seen the races it is clear that 10 boats from second run is quite hard to do so it was imperative particularly on this course to get through first time.”
K1 W Kimberley Woods (GBR) Heats 2nd Run qualifier
“I am very pleased with that second run. Everything in my plan went to plan. I really needed that for this championships to get my confidence there. I wasn’t sure where I would be against the field coming into this race as there is a lot of good girls here. I had a bit of a shaky first run but to come back with one of the quickest times of all the girls I am really pleased with it.”
K1W Ella Nicholas (COK) not qualified
"I can’t say I have done very well at a worlds, this is my fifth or sixth. I love the course, the conditions not so much. But this is my favourite course by far to train on and it’s fun to race on but very difficult. Your arms are just dead."
"I haven’t been to a semis in a worlds but I raced here in the Olympics and came eighteenth. But I was still pretty young."
K1W Hannah Craig (IRL) not qualified
"Like always whitewater canoe slalom is eventful so you never really know how it’s going to go."
"My first run was solid and unfortunately I had a touch which meant I didn’t make the top 20 automatically and my second was a little bit off on every section and I was fighting the water and it was slower. So I’m disappointed with my second run."
"It has been an interesting season because I came back from pregnancy and only started racing again five months ago so it’s been a gradual process. Five months ago I was 20 seconds off the pace, today I was six seconds so I’m getting closer."
"I had a baby 15 months ago and I started training last summer. It’s been a long process."
"You have to adapt your training. I can’t train as much as before but it has to be more quality based. I was breast feeding as well so that had its physical challenges and the back chose to not sleep for 13 months so that was hard. But within that I have never been happier in my whole."
"The hope is to qualify for the Olympics. I don’t think I will have done enough today. Then it will be the Europeans in May in Slovakia which will be the last opportunity to qualify."
"Qualifying the nations spot is the most difficult part. If you qualify the nations spot at the Europeans you will get to go the Olympics."
C2M Hongmin Yu (CHN) (w/Jin Chen) Heats second qualified
"I think this is my best race ever. My goal for the week was just want to go to the final - that would be very good."
"I competed in World Cups this year in Krakow and Czech Republic but I didn’t get good times. I was paddling very slowly and the time was very bad."
"This is a very nice course. For everyone it’s a little bit hard but in China we have a lot of hard training for the body so we are used to it so for this course I am Ok."
"I hope I can go to Rio with the Olympic Games."
C2M Cameron Smedley (CAN) (w/Ben Haywood) Heats second run not qualified
"(after partner Ben Hayward dropped paddle in heat one) I heard Ben say he’d dropped his paddle and I threw my hand in the water, felt it, grabbed it, managed to pick it up and managed to get it to him. So it didn’t take too much time."
"The second run was an improvement but not enough to get into the semi. We are learning to do C2 a bit more so it’s still our secondary class and our C1 is tomorrow."
"We have a small contingent here and we are the only C2 crew here for the worlds. Slalom is slowly growing and we have a few clubs slowly expanding out in the western side of Canada in Alberta and the club I am from in Ottawa is also expanding."
"I missed Liptovsky world cup three but I did the rest of them. We’ve had ups and downs and the World Cups weren’t what I was hoping for but we had the Pan Am Games this summer and I finished second which I was pretty happy with. Olympic qualification is the idea for C1 and I want to take one run at a time and hopefully I’ll finish where I want to be."
