Kauzer is Golden and Lefevre/Gargaud Chanut Make History

Bratislava, Slovakia - A very fitting end to the 2011 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships; the final results of some key races would have surprised even the most seasoned bookmaker.

Men's K1 World Champion Peter Kauzer (SLO)

On a day that drew the greatest number of fans, history was made by the Slovakian brothers Pavol and Peter Hochschorner when they won a 5th world championship, their fourth title in a row. The Men’s K2 duo of Fabien Lefevre and Denis Gargaud Chanut (FRA) both walked away with a grand total of seven medals (4 for Lefevre and 3 for Gargaud Chanut). It is the first time a single nation has accomplished this at a Canoe

Slalom World Championships.

Men’s K1

Men's K1 defending Champion
Daniele Molmenti (ITA) 

The Men’s K1 lived up to its billing as one of canoeing's blue ribbon events. There was the defending World Champion Daniel Molmenti and Boris Neveu (FRA), who led the semi-final. The Gold medal went to Peter Kauzer (SLO), who is now assured of a spot at the London Olympic Games next year.

“I am really psyched because I killed 2 flies at the same time; I won the Worlds and regained my title and I’m safe for the Olympics,” Kauzer said. “I made some mistakes in my run, but this is sport, sometimes you can have not such a good run but it is still enough for a win.” The Silver medallist was Mateusz Polaczyk (POL) and Bronze went to history maker Fabien Lefevre (FRA) who went on to win two other medals at the Championships.

On the expectations that follow him, Molmenti said, “I had to defend my title from last year, that is never easy and there was a lot of pressure, more than you would experience going into a normal race. But I had all the cards to do it. I posted a really good time 2 days ago, I had a good run in the semi final, even with a few mistakes.”

Molmeni continued, “The final for me was a strange race, I touched gate number 5, the water pulled the boat up and the boat touched the gate lightly. I call it an unlucky touch because you can do nothing about it. From that point I lost my focus a bit, then I made a big mistake on the drop, with all these mistakes I came 4th which is not bad – 4th in the World. Physically my preparation was good; I felt really good. I will repeat the same preparation for the Olympic Games and from a technical point I know what to do to stay at the highest level.”

Men’s C1

A part of history Denis Garchaud Chanut (FRA)
wins the Men's C1 event  

This was the highly anticipated event that didn’t quite unfold as was expected; Tony Estanguet (FRA) did not qualify for the finals leaving his biggest rival Michal Martikan, to thrill the home crowd all by himself. It became evident earlier in the race that the cards were stacked against Martikan, amidst blaring music and crowd support, Martikan rocketed through the first part of the course with monumental speed, but very soon after he encountered a major problem that would see him accrue a 50sec penalty – he had missed a gate! It became evident then that he would not be posting a medal winning time, and he eventually ended his race in 7th place. The Gold medal went to Denis Gargaud Chanut (FRA), whose great achievement has now blown open the race to the London Olympic Games. The Silver medal went to Nico Bettge (GER) and rising star Matej Benus (SVK) the Bronze.

Women’s C1

Bronze medallist Women's C1
Katerina Macova (SVK) 

This event created arguably the biggest surprise of the World Championships. The win went to the Czech Republic’s Katerina Hoskova who is now twice lucky on the Cunovo, Hoskova has won the U-23 World Championships in Bratislava and was the only one of the C1 ladies to have a penalty free race. The ever consistent Naquin Cen (CHN) had been impressing the fans all weekend and took home a deserved Silver medal. Katerina Macova (SVK) came in the third place winning the Bronze medal. This has been the first time since the event's conception that an Australian has not secured a podium place. Rosalyn Lawrence (AUS) who was the World Cup Series winner and teammate Leanne Guinea both did not qualify for the final leaving only one Australian, the 2010 World Champion Jessica Fox to go into the finals. The usually in form Fox was a shadow of herself and she finished in 8th place.

Teams Events

Lefevre / Gargaud Chanut (FRA) picked up the Gold medal for the Men’s C2 teams event, their second medal together and their third each. Slovakia came in second place and Great Britain 3rd.

Fabien Lefevre (FRA)
wins Men's K1 Team Event medal 

and makes history

In the Women’s K1 teams event, the Slovakian trio of Elena Kaliska, Jana Dukatova and Dana Mann sealed the victory over the Czech Republic who took the Silver medal and Germany who came in 3rd place.

In the Men’s K1 team event, Germany took the Gold medal followed by France (Le Fevre picked up his 4th medal in this event) of the Championships, followed by Italy.

There would be something to smile about for the Australian women who had missed out on the individual medals, they completely knocked their challengers out of play when they won the C1 team event with a 15 second lead over 2nd placed China; Germany came in 3rd place.

In a convincing Men’s C1 team event win, Slovakia took home the Gold medal, followed by Germany with a Silver medal and Bronze for the Czech Republic.

Source : here