Men’s C-1
All of the typically dominant European nations have numerous contenders who could be competing. The favourite remains Benjamin Savsek (Slovenia). He is the defending champion and double world champion having won in 2017 and 2023. He was the 2022 European Champion and won a 2023 World Cup event in Prague. Behind him at the 2023 World Championship was Nicolas Gestin (France). He was top in the 2022 World Cup standings and also won the World Cup Final. Matej Benus (Slovakia) topped the World Cup standings in 2019 and actually led Olympic qualification after the first round in Tokyo. He also has a silver Olympic medal from 2016. Miquel Trave (Spain) has medals from the 2022 European Championship and 2023 European Games but has also impressed in World Cup events. He was third in 2021 in the overall standings and came second in the 2022 World Cup Final. Raffaello Ivaldi (Italy) won the La Seu event in the 2023 World Cup. Adam Burgess (Great Britain) seems to always be competitive in finals, including when fourth in Tokyo but never quite manages to challenge. Ahead of him was Sideris Tasiadis (Germany) who won bronze and has a silver from 2012. He was the 2022 World Champion after winning bronze in 2018. Lukas Rohan (Czech Republic) was also an Olympic medalist, winning silver in Tokyo. He finished fourth in the 2023 World Championship. Grzegorz Hedwig (Poland) and Liam Jegou (Ireland) will also compete.
The medallists shouldn’t come from anyone outside the top eight. Savsek looks like the favourite given his strong performances in major championships over recent years. This event has precedent for repeat winners as from 1996-2012 two men won gold. Rohan and Tasiadis are looking to get onto the podium again. I think Rohan is the likeliest of the two but Tasiadis has shown that on his day he is as good as any. Gestin is starting to show his ability and in front of his home crowd rates as a real danger. Ivaldi and Trave would be the other pair that can compete.
🥇Nicolas Gestin 🇫🇷
🥈Benjamin Savsek 🇸🇮
🥉Raffaello Ivaldi 🇮🇹
Men’s K-1
The Czech Republic have won medals at the last three renditions of this event and has one of the favourites in reigning champion Jiri Prskavec (Czech Republic). He was the world champion in 2019 and won silver in 2018 and 2013. In 2022 he won the European Championship and the World Cup Final whilst in 2023 he won the European Games and two World Cup events. They have the strongest second banana in Vit Prindis, who was the 2022 world champion but will miss out due to the existence of Prskavec. The 2023 world champion and 2016 Olympic champion was Joe Clarke (Great Britain). Other Olympic medalists from Tokyo will compete. Jakub Grigar (Slovakia) won silver and finished fourth at the 2022 World Championships. Second at the 2022 World Championship was Giovanni De Gennaro (Italy). He finished second in the European Championships in 2021 and 2022 and also won a World Cup event in 2023 in Augsburg. Peter Kauzer (Slovenia) won in La Seu in 2023 after winning in Prague in 2022 and has consistently been a podium finisher in World Cup events. Martin Dougoud (Switzerland) has become a bit of a fourth-place specialist finishing there in the 2022 World Cup and 2023 World Championship. He took that mantle from Felix Oschmautz (Austria) who finished fourth at the 2021 World Championship and Tokyo Olympics. Perhaps a bit of a surprise selection given their strength was Titouan Castryck (France) but he did win the 2023 World Cup Final. Another surprise was Mathis Soudi (Morocco) winning bronze at the 2023 World Championship. Timothy Anderson (Australia) was fifth at the World Championship. Finn Butcher (New Zealand) and Mateusz Polaczyk(Poland) have both got second-place finishes in World Cup events this year, in Augsburg and Prague respectively. Xin Quan (China) was a winner of the 2023 Asian Games. Noah Hegge (Germany) and Pau Echaniz (Spain) are both from countries with a decent pedigree in the sport and have both finished in the top eight at a World Championship.
This event feels more open with more potential winners. Allowing for that three of the biggest contenders have medals at the last two Olympics. Clarke and Prskavec have each taken a gold over the last two tournaments. They have also performed impressively at tournaments since. Grigar and Kauzer have also medalled but perhaps do not enter at the same level of form. De Gennaro has started 2024 on fire and again has a number of strong results. Castryck will be under pressure at home and being picked over some more decorated rivals. Oschmautz and Aigner will also be considering themselves contenders.
🥇Giovanni De Gennaro 🇮🇹
🥈Jiri Prskavec 🇨🇿
🥉Joe Clarke 🇬🇧
Men’s Extreme Kayak Slalom
Joe Clarke (Great Britain) will enter the inaugural running of this event as favourite. He is the triple reigning world champion and won a 2023 World Cup event in Tacen. Finn Butcher (New Zealand) had his best year in 2021 when winning a silver medal at the World Championship and finishing fourth in the World Cup. Pedro Goncalves (Brazil) won the 2019 World Cup but as the event has gained prominence he has gone backwards. Boris Neveu (France) won the World Cup Final in 2023, finishing second in the overall competition. He is a triple World Championship silver medalist, including in 2023. Compatriot Titouan Castryck (France) will also contest but he has only had one World Cup podium, coming in 2023. Behind Neveu, at the 2023 World Championship, winning bronze was Martin Dougood (Switzerland). He won a World Cup event earlier in the year, in Krakow. Manuel Ochoa (Spain) won in Prague this year. He was also runner-up at the 2022 World Cup Final. Compatriot Miquel Trave (Spain) is another possible contender. Felix Oschmautz (Austria) won bronze in 2022 and the 2023 European Games. He also finished third in the 2023 World Cup Final. Stefan Hengst (Germany) has a second overall in the 2021 World Cup before winning bronze in the 2023 World Championship. Timothy Anderson (Australia) was third in the 2023 World Cup. Adam Burgess (Great Britain), Giovanni De Gennaro (Italy) and Noah Hegge (Germany) are all potential contenders.
This event can be hard to predict as all it takes is a bit of luck that could eliminate someone from the competition. It is so hard to see past Clarke, in the event that he has been so dominant in. The pressure will definitely be on but this is his arena and I see him taking gold. Behind him, Neveu has been the second strongest over recent years and feels like he should medal. Oschmautz has impressed but mainly in European events. Hengst was impressive but most of his best results come in 2022 and we cannot be sure he can find that form again. That means the other finalists are Butcher and Dougood. I will edge to Dougood with his form this year the differentiator.
🥇Joe Clarke 🇬🇧
🥈Martin Dougood 🇨🇭
🥉Boris Neveu 🇫🇷
Women’s C-1
Jessica Fox (Australia) is one of the more dominant competitors in the Olympics. She is the reigning champion, has been a world champion and won the World Cup for three straight years. In 2023, she won the World Cup events in Augsburg, Prague and La Seu. Britain has two top contenders but it will be world champion Mallory Franklin (Great Britain). She was second in Tokyo and also came second in the 2018 and 2021 World Championships. Elena Lilik(Germany) was the World champion in 2021. She is also the current European Games winner and has consistently made podiums in the World Cup events. Klaudia Zwolinska (Poland) won silver at the 2023 European Games.Gabriela Satkova (Czech Republic) won bronze at the 2021 World Championship as well as finishing second at the last two World Cup Finals. She won the World Cup event in Prague earlier in the year and won silver in the 2024 European Championship. Another former World Championship medalist is Ana Satila (Brazil) who won bronze in 2018. Marjorie Delassus (France) is another contender. She finished fourth in Tokyo and fifth in the 2021 World Championship. She came behind Franklin in the 2022 European Championship, winning silver. Miren Lazkano (Spain) was the 2021 European champion.Viktoriia Us(Ukraine) is an experienced competitor who will surely be competitive having finished third in the 2023 World Cup. Monica Doria Vilarrubla (Andorra) has been on a World Cup podium in both of the last two seasons. Evy Leibfarth (United States) finished fourth in the 2019 World Championship. Huang Juan (China) won the 2023 Asian Games. Eva Alina Hocevar (Slovenia), Marta Bertoncelli (Italy) and Zuzana Pankova (Slovakia) are also potential contenders.
Fox is incredibly dominant and it is always a bit of a shock when she loses. Saying that she has not won at the last three World Championships. She has won five of the last six World Cup events though, finishing second in the other. Franklin looks like someone very capable of repeating that podium. Lilik did not compete in Tokyo but represents Germany who had the bronze medalist in Tokyo. She has also got the results to suggest she could well be here. The likeliest dangers to the repeat podium are Delassus, at home and Satkova.
🥇Jessica Fox 🇦🇺
🥈Mallory Franklin 🇬🇧
🥉Elena Lilik 🇩🇪
Women’s K-1
Again, Jessica Fox (Australia) is probably the key name. She is the reigning world champion, adding to two titles earlier in her career. She has won the last five World Cups, winning four events in 2023 and three in 2022. However, in Tokyo, she could only first third despite leading qualifying. Ricarda Funk (Germany) is the reigning Olympic champion and is a double world champion, winning in 2021 and 2022. She won the 2022 World Cup Final and in 2023 took the European Games. The other Tokyo Olympic medalist was Maialen Chourraut (Spain) who won silver. Fourth place finisher was Stefanie Horn (Italy) who won the 2022 European Championship as she tied with Eliska Mintalova (Slovakia). Mintalova was runner-up in the 2023 World Championship and won a 2023 World Cup event in La Seu. Behind Funk at the 2023 European Games was Klaudia Zwolinska (Poland). She has Olympic experience from finishing fifth in Tokyo and finished third in the 2023 World Championship. The bronze medal winner at the 2021 World Championship was Kimberley Woods (Great Britain). Another World Championship bronze medalist was Luuka Jones (New Zealand) in 2019. The world champion from that year was Eva Tercelj (Slovenia) and she has consistently performed well in World Cup events. Camille Prigent (France) had her best year in 2022 when she came fourth overall in the World Cup standings. She was second in the World Cup Final and came fourth in the 2022 World Championship. In 2023 that was Martina Wegman (Netherlands) and she also finished fourth in the 2022 European Championships. Another fourth-placed finisher at the World Championships was Corinna Kuhnle (Austria) in 2021. She was the runner-up in the 2023 World Cup Final and the 2021 European champion.
I’d point to this being the stronger event of Fox, even though she only won bronze in Tokyo. Funk also seems likely to be back on the podium but Chourraut doesn’t seem to be in the same level of form. Prigent will be a contender at home whilst Woods has enough strong results in her past that I could see her contending. Recent form suggests that Mintalova and Zwolinska are actually the best placed to be on the podium.
🥇Jessica Fox 🇦🇺
🥈Ricarda Funk 🇩🇪
🥉Klaudia Zwolinska 🇵🇱
Women’s Extreme Kayak Slalom
Jessica Fox (Australia) has not dominated this to the same extent she has the other disciplines. I say this, despite her being the 2021 and 2022 world champion. The 2023 world champion was Kimberly Woods (Great Britain) and she also won a 2023 World Cup event in Prague. Compatriot Mallory Franklin (Great Britain) was dominant in the 2022 World Cup, winning the overall event and the World Cup Final. Luuka Jones (New Zealand) won the 2023 World Cup Final and finished second overall. Elena Lilik (Germany) won the 2023 World Cup event in La Seu. She was also second in the 2022 World Cup Final and the 2021 World Championship. Martina Wegman (Netherlands) won the overall World Cup in 2018 and was second in 2021. She also won silver in the 2018 World Championship. In 2023, it was Camille Prigent (France) who won silver at the World Championships. Ana Satila (Brazil) was a silver medalist way back in 2017 before she won the 2018 event. She was third in the 2021 World Cup and finished fourth in the 2022 World Championship. Stefanie Horn (Italy) won the 2023 World Cup event in Augsburg as well as winning bronze in the European Games. The winner of the European Games in 2023 was Viktoriia Us (Ukraine). Behind her was Ricarda Funk (Germany) and she was on a World Cup podium in 2023. The European champion in 2022 was Teresa Fiserova (Czech Republic) and she also finished second in the 2022 World Cup. Eva Tercelj (Slovenia) was third in that World Cup and won bronze in the 2023 World Championship. Emma Vuitton (France) was the fourth-place finisher. Monica Doria Villarrubla (Armenia) won bronze in 2022 and Evy Leibfarth (United States) was the 2021 bronze medalist. Corinna Kuhnle (Austria) won a European Championship silver in 2021. Noemie Fox (Australia) has reached the semi-finals in three World Championships and has a World Cup podium in both 2022 and 2024. Other potential contenders include Eliska Mintalova (Slovakia), Klaudia Zwolinska (Poland) and Maialen Chourraut (Spain).
This feels open. Fox can win these events but she can also be beaten. Given she will have had a tough week, I don’t think she can be the favourite. I think this has several other contenders and as referenced, is an event that luck can play a major part. The other major contenders are Fiserova, Franklin, Jones, Lilik, Prigent, Tercelj and Woods. I will edge to Prigent winning a medal at home. Tercelj also has strong form over the last few years and I think Woods looks the stronger of the British pair in this event.
🥇Eva Tercelj 🇸🇮
🥈Camille Prigent 🇫🇷
🥉Kimberley Woods 🇬🇧
Comments