18/09/2011 Canoeing: World Slalom Championships

Here cams Kelly Holmes. The crowd Great Britain get the gold medal.

Kelly Holmes for Great Britain. Welcome to Bratislava, host of the

2011 canoe 12 slalom championships. Slovakia is a powerhouse of this

fast and furious sport. In the middle of the River Danube, it is

considered to be the world's best. That is where they are willing to

do battle to become kings and In the women's K-1, Fiona Pennie

looks to regain the form that saw her win world soon -- silver in

2006. In case your knowledge is a bladed paddle pulls up in kayak,

they use a double blade. Canoe slalom is a minute and a half, high

octane, Whitewater may hem. It takes a quick reactions, physical

strength and mental toughness to be fast. It helps to be a bit of a

nutter. You need a long reach, a strong grip on the water and good

upper-body strength to power yourself down the cause. Being in

the water is one thing but handling technique around the gates is quite

another. In competition you have to negotiate the course. Read gates up

a bit tricky. -- red. You have to paddle against the flow. The best

way to do a red gate is to control the speed on the approach, go hard

up to the gate and get back into the flow as quickly as possible.

Missed a gate is a 52nd penalty and your race is over. You are up the

creek without a paddle. We have made our way to this year's course.

The 2011 championships are the main qualification event for London 2012.

Joining me to discuss how the Brits could do his former world champion,

Richard Fox. As hosts, Great Britain get the boat in each of

those events. They want to come here and earned them properly. How

well do they have to perform? want to show they can earn them by

right. In the men's and women's kayak, it is the top nations. In

the men's C-1, it is the top 10 and the men's C-2, it is eight.

tough is it? This is one of the greatest courses in the world. It

was built in 1996 was a big blows of the great Danube river. It is

probably the steepest course. -- in 1996. It flows off the Great River

Danube. The athletes like it. It is very challenging, as we saw this

morning in the semi-finals. Britain have already got two boats in the

C-2 men's final and Fiona Pennie in the women's C-2 final. It is wide

open. The Olympic champion has qualified for the women's final in

10th place. I would expect her to put down a big round. It is well

within the reach of Fiona Pennie. It is a tough course. It has been

modified from the heats. In the C-2, having two boats, you have two

shots at the podium. Tim Baillie has done very well to reach the

final. They will be satisfied. There will be a fierce fight next

year for the Olympic spot. The podium is within reach. Our first

final is the C-2. After taking silver in Beijing in a individual

can move, David Florence and Richard Hounslow are teaming up.

is absolutely flying. This is a tremendous time. After Beijing, I

won an Olympic medal. I focused on that for so long. I did not want --

I did not know what to do next. was so close to retiring. I was

accepted into Sandhurst. I was going to go into the Army.

decided I wanted a new challenge. I thought about taking up another

category. No one else really did it in canoeing slalom at the time.

Chris Hoy inspired me to do something different. I told him my

ideas. He laughed at me. As soon as we started doing that, I realised I

had another Olympics in May. I still had the drive and the hunger

for it. I thought I should give it another go. Paddling in C-2,

technically it is very different from the C-1 class. We had a lot of

techniques to learn. You have your legs in front of you in C-1. In C-2,

who kneel down. I find it hard. Specific techniques around the

gates are much more difficult. can probably last about 20 minutes

until it gets painful. You won the bronze last year. The you are

always pushing for the medals. We're looking to push on into

silver and gold, to be honest. We are up against some tough

competition. In the C-2 category, you have the two best crews in the

world. They are hard to beat. They were beaten at the World Cup in

Prague. It will be their home water in Bratislava. Hopefully we can

turn them over. There is the line- up for the men's C-2 final.

Ladislav and Peter Skantar lead off. They are up against Pavol and Peter

Hochshorner. Listen to the raw. Two slacking crews in the final.

Ladislav and Peter Skantar, they have won gold before and been

bronze medallists before. They have got themselves off to a nice start.

They need to make sure they set their boat up nicely through the

messy bits of water. Driving around the upstream gate, and again the

roars and the sirens Of going around the course. There is a

fantastic atmosphere. Just finding a bit of difficulty. This is a

tight stagger. It is about keeping their boat tracking downstream as

much as they can. They had two seconds of penalties already higher

up the course as they negotiate that upstream gate. Into the fast,

rushing water. They have not touched the poll yet. That was the

wind and breeze blowing it. No penalties yet. They managed to

negotiate that very well and take the boat running. It comes off the

wall and they are going to align themselves up for the stagger

sequence. They are pulling it back around. It is about making sure the

boat is running smoothly through the white water. These cousins know

each other's strengths and weaknesses as they head towards the

end. Just a few gates to go. This is where it gets tiring. Still just

two seconds of penalties. They are going to set a fast time. This is

going to be tough to beat. 109.86 is the total and that puts them

into first place. That was a really good ran from Ladislav and Peter

Skantar. They have put in a good run. They have set a high standard.

Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott for Britain start their campaign.

They've finished 4th in 2009. They have been prominent over the last

few years on the international circuit. They know each other so

well. They look as though they are off to a pretty good start. They

have negotiated the upstream gate three well. They have got their

boat tracking nicely downstream. They have had a number of injuries

during the winter. They have managed to get back on track and

are fighting hard. We have another British pair in David Florence and

Richard Hounslow to go. They will have one eye on the Olympic

selection. No penalties so far for Great Britain. They made their way

through that tricky stagger sequence. They are going to break

out into the upstream. They will spend a bit of time setting their

boat up to make sure they can stay on the inside poll as much as

possible. No penalties so far. They have picked one up there. That

could make a difference. It will be interesting to see at the next so -

- check, how they compare. They had a little way to go. They had gone

through that won nicely. They can see the finish from where they are.

-- one. They need to align themselves up for the next

downstream gate. They need to stay as tight as possible. They are a

bit low. They push into the flow on the last bit of the course. They

are trying to get back into clean water. They're coming towards the

finish. Great Britain are in second place. A solid performance for the

first major Championship of the year after having major injuries.

No change in the board here. Ladislav and Peter Skantar still in

first place. Now it is the turn of Florence and Hounslow. It is the

second British boat. The competition between the two British

boats will do the power of good for competition in Great Britain.

Absolutely. They have been pushing each other on. There will be tough

competition for the Olympics spot. An individual silver medallist in

Beijing in 2008. That was a cracking competition. Since then he

has been keen to make sure the C-2 category is something great Britain

should do well at international level. They are doing pretty well

so far. No penalties at the moment. They are lining it up for the

Stagger sequence. The course is very tight. We can see them pushing

on down. They have dropped a little bit low. They have pushed their

boat back up. We can see Richard Hanslope swapping sides to try to

stay on the inside of that poll. -- Richard Hounslow. They know their

way around the international arena and in terms of pressure and

performance. This man-made course is really testing them. Still no

penalties, still looking good for us DUP still chasing the lead that

is held by Ladislav and Peter Skantar. The Slovakians are

delighted. We had Denis Gargaud Chanut and Fabien Lefevre to come.

A nice jump in net into the upstream. They are having to drive

out into the float and negotiate 21 and 22 as fast as they can. It is

quick. They are clear in terms of penalties. One had and 10.33. --

last gate to keep their boat as dry as possible. These two guys are

almost Gods in Slovakia, the Hochschorner twins. They have been

absolutely brilliant over the years - three times Olympic champions.

They're going for their fourth victory in the World Championships

in a row in C-2 canoeing, and I guess they have set themselves up

as the pre-event favourites, but they've got to deliver, and a

really high standard has been set already by their team-mates,

Ladislav Skantar and Peter Skantar. But the Hochschorners, well, you've

got to say they're going well, aren't they? They certainly are,

and they're looking very smooth as they work together to power their

boat through the course, sometimes a bit of a joke of how they

actually don't look like they're trying that hard, but that's the

key to what makes them so fast. They're going for their own little

bit of history. They have already won this C-2 category four times in

the past, but there was a gap of a year between those victories, so

they've won it three times in a row, and nobody in the history of

canoeing or kayaking has ever won four gold medals in a row. These

guys can do it. They have kept a clean sheet so far - around about

halfway - just over halfway down the course at the minute, and

technically superb. Executing the upstream gates really well, which

is why we see it lost, sliding into the upstream gate, push out across

the course, a quick spin, get the boat tracking back downstream again.

Let's not forget of course if anybody goes into first place here,

that means that Britain move down the table. And this is looking very

quick. It's just all about whether they can get in and out of this

last upstream now. They have executed that very well. They're

driving their boat now all the way to the finish line. It's going to

be close. It's just over a hundred. Look for the number one appearing

on the caption - it could be, yes, it is, 106.76, the Hochschorners in

the lead, the former world champions in France yet to go.

excellent run from the Hochschorner brothers. You see them there

sliding into the last upstream gate, gate 20, as they pull themselves

out to make it a quick run. There is only the French left, and so

they can challenge the Hochschorners, of course, but if

they do, if they go into the lead or get one of the top three places,

that really does mean that David Florence and Richard Hounslow could

be out of the medals. I've got mixed feelings with this one, Helen,

but certainly Fabien Lefevre at the front there, he is one of the all-

time greats in - just on the water in any sort of canoe. Yeah, he now

paddles kayak in the C-2. They're off to an excellent start. They're

nice and tight around the upstream gate they're going to look to now

really set themselves up for this next stagger sequence which is

really tight. We have seen them spin in gate nine. I wonder what

they're going to do. Certainly none to the big crews have messed up so

far. The most number of penalties we have seen are two seconds for

one touch, such has been the precision of their paddling at the

moment, and the banks on both sides of this course absolutely packed to

the Rafters, and wouldn't they like to see a home victory? At the

moment the Hochschorners are leading. The Skantar cousins are

still in with a shout of a medal as well, but can the French upset

them? The French pair are looking superb. They're work, so well

together. It's all about whether they can keep themselves composed

in this last section of the course. It's tricky, this last stagger

sequence. They push out. They go forward. We have seen a number of

crews spin that. I wonder what they'll do at 17. They're pushing

backwards to get their boat across the river. They're slightly a head

of the Hochschorners by just over a second, so this is looking good for

France at the moment. It's a lot of time to be won and lost on gate 20.

Here we saw them lean a little bit heavy on their blades. Again, watch

the clock. We're just over a hundred now. They've struggled a

little bit over the last couple of gates. It's going to be close. The

Hochschorners have got it. Slovakca have won the gold in C-2, and it's

France who in the end just ran out of steam, and they pick up a silver

medal, but Florence and Hounslow disappointing for them - they're

down in fourth place. A tight race there from the C-2

final to see the Hochschorners take the gold once again. There is the

result, a historic one for the mighty twin at the top of the table.

Slovakia third, but a good performance in fourth place, and

Britain also picking up sixth. it must be gutting to lose a medal

place in the final run. Yeah, it's always tough to be so close to a

medal. I think it was just under a half second behind, but at the end

of the day, I think we had a pretty good run. We probably paddled

better this year than last, and we got a medal, so you know, that's

good. Got another year now until the Olympics, so we've just got to

work hard over the winter and hopefully put ourselves up on the

podium. That's the thing with this sport, it's so unpredictable. What

were your nerves like during the race? I think I was more nervous

watching those last few guys come down and see how close we are. Like

he said, it's about going out there and putting in a good performance

yourself. We had a good run. Obviously wasn't quite good enough

today, but it was still good. We're making progress - in fourth,

although it's outside the medals, it's a good result. After so much

of the season out, you guys must have been so pleased to be in the

final. Yeah, when we were coming here, we said that was probably a

very satisfactory outcome for the weekend and something we'd be

really happy with, and you know, we've struggled. We haven't got the

training base behind us. Our form through the racing stages has been

mixed. The build-up to this race, we have tried to do everything

right. We made as many right decisions as we could. We nursed

ourselves. We done everything right, and to get this placing is our

second best result, and after all of this, we couldn't be

disappointed. So no medals, but solid runs from Partita for Solo

Violin No 2 crews that are still in the running to be part of Team GB

in 2012. When it comes to women, there is only one Olympic spot

available, but with more than one world-class paddler in the canoe

class squad, competition for it is. By being the only Brit to make the

women's K-1 final here at the Championships, Fiona Pennie has

made sure she's got the edge. Fiona Pennie, Lizzie Neave, Laura

Blakeman and Louise Donington have all proven themselves at world

level, but Great Britain only has one women's canoe slalom spot at

the Olympics. We all get on really well still. I mean, you've just got

to accept that only one person is going to go, and at the moment,

there is three girls on the team, but even out with those three girls,

there's other girls wanting to get that spot as well. It's not just

three. It's four, maybe six people going for this spot. So it's - we

get on, and you just have to do what you can, and we all know that

only one is going to get it. Do you talk about it much? Not really

between us, no. I think we all know what each other is thinking, and we

just get on with the game that we've got to do. How desperate are

you to make sure you're at the Olympics? It would be really

fantastic to do it again, you know. Obviously I went to Beijing, and

I've got some things to improve on from the Beijing result that I had,

which I wasn't very pleased with. I would definitely like to go again

and try and do better, and yeah, it's going to be hard - four girls

going to be one spot, but I'll do everything I can to make that spot.

How are you feeling about your form going into the World Championships?

It's improving. I am definitely feeling a lot stronger and fresher

as it were going into the race now. I am improving technically. There

is a big drop at the bottom which you really have to store up your

energy to make it to the bottom of the course, so yeah, it's steadily

improving, so I am really positive. Who are the ones to watch out

there? Well, the Slovak girls - Elena Kaliska, then the current

world champion, Katerina Hoskova. Anyone can win it.

To get us under way, one of the all-time greats in women's K-1

paddling, Elena Kaliska, 39 years old now and certainly a favourite

in her hometown of Slovakia, the former Olympic champion and of

course a former world champion too. How long can this woman keep going?

She's nearly 40 years old now, but she's better than ever. Absolutely.

I think the experience plays a big part in this canoe slalom. It

really helps to know how to control your emotions and the pressure, and

she's certainly proven she can do that before. She's a real

technician, so, so strong as well,ed a certainly her strength

and enthusiasm for the sport hasn't diminished over the years. She

could well be one of the athletes to beat here. Because I am assuming

she must know this course so well. Absolutely. She was trained here,

practised all the moves she could possibly do time and time again.

And that plays a really big part, to know what you're coming up

against. She looks like she's on a solid run - dropping a little bit

low into that gate. She needs to push out into the flow. It's all

about gate 12. She's sliding out a little bit and losing precious time.

She seems to be puffing and blowing a little bit, made a bit of as me

of that one, losing momentum coming out of the gate. That is so

important, but you can never discount her. She has been around

for so, so long and still is a threat to everybody, no matter

which competition she's into. Of course, the crowd here love her.

Absolutely, two-time Olympic champion. They all know exactly

what to be shouting for here today. She looks like she's pulling her

boat around, now pushing herself into the final drop, need to keep

the bow as dry as possible. Oh, she gets caught on the eddie line,

fighting to get into the back of it to finish off this course. She's

got to come out tight around that pole, so she wasted a lot of time

there. This actually looks as though it could be quite a slow

time for Elena Kaliska, but she's in the lead at the moment, 114.17.

She lays down a marker, and that's what everybody else has to beat.

Well, Fiona Pennie of Great Britain - she's done very, very well to

make? Final. She has been a British international since 1997 and

actually won a silver medal in K-1 paddling way back in 2006, but she

did have a tough time in Beijing, didn't she? She certainly did. She

fell out at the qualification stage. She'll certainly be look to make

amends hopefully next year in London. So Fiona Pennie gets things

under way, looking comfortable, looking relaxed. As you saw before

Elena Kaliska has laid down a marker of 114. That's the target,

certainly taking plenty of time to go around that pole. She's got to

keep the momentum going. We have been saying that all along, coming

out of the gate into fast-moving water or in a straight line. The

lines are so important. Executing that downstream gate very well. We

saw a number of boats spin in the C-2 category, but she took it

onboard and executed it well, pushing down hard. It's a very

physical course here, and she's a strong athlete. We'll see her

really put the grit in and push all the way down. She now needs to line

the boat up and hang on into that inside pole. We'll see in a little

while how she compares with the former Olympic champion Elena

Kaliska. Just going backwards through that one, but turns out of

it well. She'll now need to line her boat up as she enters the next

upstream gate before this tricky stagger sequence. She's fighting to

beat the pace of the water coming out of that one, and there is Elena

Kaliska's split time at the moment, 85.6, and she's just outside it.

She's really taking this course on. You can see her - focused, very

positive paddling. She needs to lift her bow as she enters gate 20,

getting a little bit stuck on the eddie line. It's tough upstream for

a lot of these ladies. You need a lot of power. She composed herself

well there, came out of that one quickly, so she has got a shout at

taking the lead. Fiona Pennie for Great Britain, it's going to be

close, and she's got it. She goes into the lead in the women's K-1

final. Superb. APPLAUSE

A display of extremely positive paddling from Fiona Pennie as she

took on that course. We saw her Kunler. She is the defending

champion. She has a lot of pride at stake here. The marker has been set

superbly by Fiona Pennie. Of course, anybody who beats Elena Kaliska on

a World Championship course, they can be very proud of that - that's

for sure. Absolutely, and she's made a good start. She's got to

push in nice and tight. That's excellent. She now needs to pull

out tightly as she lines her boat up for the next downstream stagger

sequence. We saw Fiona Pennie take this on very direct. I wonder what

she's going to do here. She looks pretty quick, but she's got a two-

second time penalty, driving out. It really is a vicious part of the

course there, but now she's picking up speed. She's gaining momentum.

No more mistakes at the moment for the Austrian. She was quick in and

out of that gate 11. Now is all about setting the boat up nicely

around that inside pole. That was excellent. She pushes out hard

across the river. She'll line her boat up for the eddie, which is a

bit slack and goes out on itself. We're getting to the point where we

can see her split time. We'll see how far she is up on it. I think

she'll have at least a couple of seconds. She'll be going

brilliantly. Certainly that early mistake, but none since. Look at

that. She's almost 1.5 seconds up on Fiona Pennie. It's all about

keeping supposed as she enters this gate and keeping the boat dry. Wow.

That was quicker than we have seen previously. She almost used the

wall as a stopper. That helped her a lot. Driving for the line now.

This is going to be a very good time for the Austrian, and goes

into the lead by some way. Fiona Pennie is now in second place.

Inessa K-1 final, Maialen Chourraut. -- in this K-1 final. She is one of

the smallest athletes on the circuit. She weighs in 10 kilos

lighter. Sheikh is getting a bit Court. She needs to compose herself

and set herself up nicely for the downstream sequence. It is looking

pretty tidy. She is going well. Corinna Kuhnle set a fantastic

standard. She was last to go. The Austrian still leads but the

Spaniard is going superbly. needs to keep herself nice and

composed. Push across the river. It is all about the set-up of the

second upstream gate. The Water wants to pursue it out. You have to

be careful not to pick up a two second penalty. You know where the

fast parts of the course are. is the key. You need to preserve as

much energy as you can. You need a lot of power. There is the split

for Corinna Kuhnle. Has the Spaniard lost some time? Yes, she

has. She is three seconds adrift. That is where the Austrian was so

good. It she needs to nail this entry gate. It is about pushing

back into the flow. She needs to make no more mistakes. You saw the

standard that had been set by Corinna Kuhnle. The Spaniard now,

113.58. She goes into second place. Away we go with Jana Dukatova. One

of the few people to be crowned champion in K-1 and C-1. Two

different sports. It is still Corinna Kuhnle, who is in the lead.

Jana Dukatova reaches very far forward. She won no doubt be

desperate for the gold medal on home ground. -- she will no doubt.

Corinna Kuhnle came down 25 minutes ago but she is sitting Supreme. The

second third of the cause is where the Austrian won it. She was so

strong. Already Jana Dukatova is looking jaded. She is going to use

the momentum she has gained. It is a tough course. You must stay

focused. With the home crowd, I am sure she will be staying positive.

Getting a bit stuck. Her team-mate his way out of the medals. No

return to form after injury. The host nation is hoping desperately

that Jana Dukatova can do something. This is the last split time.

Already she is some way out of that. She turned a bit early and is

losing time all the time. Getting a bit stuck. She is having to be

patient to make sure the boat is coming back buoyant. She needs to

concentrate. Head down and arms driving for the line. She could be

in with a chance of a medal. 113.33. Corinna Kuhnle is the champion and

she gets a silver medal. Good performance by Corinna Kuhnle and a

good performance by Jana Dukatova. Fiona Pennie finishes down in 5th

place. You finished in 5th, how plays are you? I am reasonably

pleased to get into the finals. I thought I might be in for a medal

at one. But and lost a bitter time on the bottom drop. That was enough.

-- I lost a bit of time. How hard is that? You have to watch and hope.

At the end of the day, the others paddled a better race than I did

and you get what you deserve, I suppose. Today was really tough.

The qualification course was easier. This morning there were some tight

bits but I went for it and was quite pleased with how it came off.

You had qualified the boat for the Olympics. You are in pole position.

You have performed well and given the strongest performance. There is

a selection series at Easter time next year to look forward to. It is

not certain I am in that boat yet. There is a lot of work to do over

the winter. Campbell Walsh joins me. Fiona Pennie came 5th in her final.

We had Richard Hounslow and David Florence just out of medal position

in force Macro -- in force. Having come force at the worlds and 4th at

the Olympics, I know how they're feeling. I think they stand up

pretty well in a strong and competitive final. It does set them

up well for next year to go one better or two better on the home

course. The Pavol and Peter Hochshorner brothers were great. No

surprises about Jana Dukatova in second. It is her home course and

she measured the run very well. Looking at how the Slovakians go on

her home course, now it is our turn. You are watching your team mates

from the stands, what you make of their performances? It was a good

performance yesterday. Tim had a long-term elbow problem which they

operated on. Both of them have been out of the boat for a long time.

After two months of training, it is really good. I think they were

happy with that. David and Richard, I think Forth is a good result.

They have been consistently hitting that. On a slightly better day they

get into the medals. They raced well and they know they did. Fiona,

she is capable of getting into the medals. I know she was disappointed.

I thought she paddled well and attacked the course. The two

downstream sequences they did direct without spinning. I think

she was the only girl in the final to do that. We were hoping to see

you in the K-1 men's semi-final which is coming up. You must be

gutted. I was such a long way off. I was not fast enough and I hit two

gates. It was not frustrating in that I was close, I made so many

mistakes. No regrets in the plant and the approach. I felt good at

the start. I would try to do the same again and execute it better.

You are a five-time world champion in the K-1. Another year with no

Brits in the K-1 final. Is it really tough competition? No doubt.

We have some young guns to liven it up a bit more. The top end, Peter

Kauzer, he has taken it up a level. Everyone is scrambling to keep up

with the top guys. Things will stabilise in the Olympic year. The

race is wide open. With one boat pan-Asian, it is different

altogether. The race is tight. -- per nation. In my day we raced

twice as far and built the run back to go if we made early errors. As

Campbell said, it does not always go your way. Let's see who won the

medals in the men's K-1 final. is the line-up. K two men's bronze

Championship aspirations. He has been champion in this event twice

before but never managed to repeat his performances. He will be

looking today to absolutely no other course. He is a leader in

terms of technique. In 2002, 2003, everyone was trying to copy his

style. As for Britain, in this event, we had Huw Swetnam. Richard

Hounslow was also in the event and he finished in 27th. Where event

find our next champion? It could be this man. -- where are we going to

at the moment. Precision all the way down. Huge awareness on this

very fast-moving course. He is nipping around each of those gates,

getting has -- getting as close as he can. That could be very costly

to him. You are right. That could be a difference between a gold and

nothing. We will have to wait and see. 98.89. He bangs the water with

his fist. He knew he made a mistake. He went in too early. He will be

very angry with himself about that one. Here goes the defending

champion. He has worn No. One on his best with pride. They say it is

harder to defend the title than it is to win it. Kate to men's 2010

Macro means business. -- Daniele Molmenti. He has got off to an

aggressive start. He whips his boat round and he is back out. He is

driving himself through this sequence. He is just outside of the

time set by the Frenchman. Well over a second. He needs to tidy it

up and make sure he does not get any more faults. Two seconds so far

and that could be costly. He spent a lot of time with his bow facing

across the river. He is pushing out. A quick turn. Driving on through

the next part of the course. Certainly in the previous

competitions, we have seen this middle part of the course really

taxing everyone in terms of technique, strength and momentum.

Almost a mistake. Still in second place. He needs to pick up speed.

He has been pushed a bit all over the place. He got very wet going

down into gate 20. This is better. He has gone extremely well. What

has he got in terms of time? 99.623. Down that middle and last part he

seemed to lose time as he got a bit caught up in the white water.

we go with Matej Benus -- Polaczyk from pollend. For these guys, it's

everything to go for. For Polaczyk, the only medal he has had has been

in the team event in 2006. He has a bit prove. Looking smooth as he

glides his boat over the top of the white water. We want to see the bow

as dry as possible. Every time it has water on top, it is slowing the

momentum down. Molmenti, he certainly finished his run - must

be desperately disappointed. He's coming on to the part of the course

really where Molmenti lost it. He made one or two fundamental errors,

and you really have got to keep it together here. There's all sorts of

difficulties, all sorts of very difficult gates, like that one, but

he's come out of it well, so Polaczyk at the moment still OK.

He's whipping his boat around the upstream gate nice and tight as he

pushes across the gate and down through that downstream gate in the

eddy. He now has to make sure he gets a nice entry into gate 15.

Keeping one eye on the leader board at the moment, Fabien Lefevre of

France, just over 98.5, his time, certainly possible, although this

fellow is still .75 of a second outside of that lead, so he's

really got to pick it up now. whips his boat over the eddy line

there, very quick, in and out of gate 20. It's now all about keeping

the drive on all the way to the finish line. It's going to be very

close indeed. He could push Fabien Lefevre down the leader board. Yes,

he can, 97.22, and we have a new leader, and that almost guarantees

him a medal as well! That was a superb run there. He kept his boat

nice and dry. He kept it lively as he whipped himself around all the

tricky stagger sequences. He'll be very happy with that one. It's all

down to this man, Peter Kauzer of Slovenia to decide where this

Championship will do. It is still Polaczyk in the lead with Fabien

Lefevre in third place, Molmenti, the defending champion, is still on

the medal rostrum at the moment, but this guy is a former world

champion himself. He's no mug. He knows this course well. He's

absolutely flying at the moment. really is tight that gate. He pulls

himself up and arounden back into the flow. He's really leaning

forward, taking control. We have seen very few penaltys in this

men's K-1 final, very tidy runs by the top ten. Driving on, certainly

seems as though he's got plenty left in reserve, plenty in the tank,

as it were. But he's going to need it. He's still in with a chance

here. Nice and tight around 11. He's keeping the inside pole on

gate 12. He now drives across the river and makes sure he keeps his

boat running in the downstream eddy. He has to keep his boat nice and

tight in gate 15 before he enters the tricky stagger sequence. Came

out of that well, looking for the fast water to take him on to the

next gate. He knows this course well. He won the European

Championships earlier on in the year. He's in the lead by well over

a second! Just the last part of the course to come, and he might have

got it, you know? Awesome. He just whips his head around that upstream

gate, drives it back out. I think we could really be on for a fight

for the lead now. Well, if it goes according to the form book,

Molmenti, the defending champion, could be out of medals altogether,

and Peter Kauser crosses the line with the fastest time, 96.01. He's

the new champion. That was a display of technical brilliance. He

made sure he got himself in and out of pole as quickly as he could.

certainly left his best until the very last competitor came down the

course. It's gold that goes to the opportunity to get to know this

course better than anyone else before these World Championships.

It's of course an advantage that Britain's paddlers will have ahead

of next year's Olympic games. Most of the squad have moved south to be

closer to Lee Valley, the canoe really good here. We also do our

land training at the Lee Valley White Water Centre, which is a

great facility. Moving house I found pretty interesting, exciting.

I had been living in the one place for 15 years. I really enjoyed

moving down here. We have a fantastic course to train on. It's

so much better than where we used to train. It's fantastic to be here,

to have a world-class venue so close to home. I live just around

the corner now. It's so great to be able to train here day in, day out.

You have to make some sacrifices. Really, if I wanted to progress, I

had to make the move, but that's what you have to do to get to the

top of your game. The course itself is a demanding one. It's a

difficult course, without a doubt. It's step, powerful water and

deceptively much harder than it looks from the river bank. Some of

the foreign paddlers that have been over here training, they think it

looks not bad, then they agree, it's tough. It was hard, really

hard to get used to at the start. Now we're getting more used to it,

knowing where to put the strokes in to do what we want to do. It's

always an advantage to train on the site you're going to be racing on.

Obviously, all the other guys are going to be over here a lot in the

build-up to the Olympics as well, but if we could be training

anywhere in the world, it would certainly be here. Home advantage

didn't help too much at the Olympic test event in July, with no medals

for the British team. The media made a bit of it that we didn't win

a medal, but we had placings. That was not to be sniffed at. We had

three Italians, three Slovenians, three French guys. You start

knocking out the people who won't even be at the Olympics and GB will

get a lot higher of a place. We had the commentary and a big race on

this venue. It gave us a taster. Next year when you have all the

spectators, it's really going to add something. To keep up to date

with the progress of Britain's canoeists and other 2012 hopefuls,

head over to our website. Now on to the individual events in

the canoe. Women now compete in the C-1, but not at the Olympics. 17-

year-old Brit Mallory Franklin paddled very well to get into the

final. Well, she had started well, but

like many, she came a croper at the big drop at the end of the course.

This capsize scuppering her medal chances. Katrina Katerina Hoskova

of the Czech Republic eventually took gold.

It's good to fine I have finaled in every race I have done this year,

so in that way, it's good, and top five in a couple, so my results are

getting better gradually, so yeah, it's good. John to the men's C-1

final, which unfortunately doesn't feature David Florence, Britain's

only canoe slalom medallist from the Beijing Olympics. Let's see who

will be world champion going into Chanut. He's already won a silver

medal in the C-2 category. And won the gold in the team event back in

2010, so certainly a very good competitor in his own right. Using

both sides of the boat with that paddle, and these guys are

incredibly strong, aren't they? Yeah, they make sure they keep

their blade in the water as much as they can. They drive it around and

pull their boats all the way through the course. Here we go,

28.01, the fastest time so far that has been set down that first part

of the course, second part of the course probably technically the

most difficult, and certainly the designers of this course have done

an absolutely brilliant job, but that depends whether you're a

spectator or competitor. Comes around that gate, whips himself

around so quickly, then, of course, the next problem is another

upstream gate but so far, so good for the Frenchman. He looks like

he's on great form, keeping his bow nice and dry and driving the boat

through the tricky bits of water. He's going to come in tight into

gate 15 as he pushes the bow out. It's an interesting stagger

sequence. It will be interesting to see what he does. He's certainly

going well. The French team have got a real star in this man -

that's for sure, certainly, the whole body works hard, and you see

one category canoes - certainly, they're incredibly strong in the

abdominal area - pushes himself off the wall and heads towards the

finish looking good. He certainly is. He is nice and clean. Going for

the finish, 101.14, and he is in the lead - a great performance from

the Frenchman. Well, here we go with Nico Bettge - a gold medallist

in the past. He was part of the German team. -- back in 2006 that

got gold. His claim to fame is he has been on the rostrum four times

altogether, but they've always been in team events, but like all

Germans, technically very proficient, and like all Germans

too, incredibly fit and strong. He's putting in a solid run so far

as he gets in nice and tight around the upstream gate left. He's going

to drive his boat into the stagger sequence where we have seen a

number of options happen today. We see him whip his tail under the

water and his bow around to keep him tracking downstream. Certainly

no lack of commitment, but you saw on that first split he was well

over a second behind the French competitor, who has finished and

waiting at the bottom to see if anybody can challenge the time he

has laid down. It really was a magnificent time, but here he keeps

driving on, and no mistakes so far. upstream gates, which I think might

be a tiny bit costly to him, but there is a lot of time to be won or

lost in the last section of the course as he comes out. He does a

quick spin to get his bow facing the right way of the river to face

the next part of the stagger sequence. He's lost more time. The

Frenchman sitting at the top of the table. Drops down there,

accelerates into that upstream gate. That was pretty tidy. An excellent

upstream gate as he pushes his boat into the eddy line, now back into

the flow and really pushing hard towards the finishline. So Nico

Bettge outside the time set earlier, but he's in second place. Well, the

home crowd waiting for this man, Michaela Grimm -- Mikhail Marticam.

He has been the man to beat for a long time. But without Tony in this

final, we're going to see if it will be his day. To remind you,

it's France who lead at the moment, 101.14. If any man is up for the

task you have to say it's this man. He was very close to the pole on

that upstream gate. And let's not forget, he's won eight World

Championship gold medals in the past, I think three or four for

individual events and the rest in team event, but he's so popular in

this part of the world, and the whole of Slovakia wishing him well.

He's generally very consistent. He looks like he's on a solid run at

the moment as he gets in nice and tight. He's now setting himself up

nicely for the upstream gate as he swings the boat out into the flow

to cut across, getting a bit stuck - my goodness, he's gone past the

gate, gone back around - this is losing seconds as we speak.

could have blown his chances of taking any sort of medal with that

manoeuvre. He's managed to retain his composure. Just dipped

underneath that one. That was OK, but there is the split. He's way

outside of it, way outside, and in fact, he's way down on everybody at

the moment. He's going to have to do something remarkable to get a

medal. It looked like he might have picked up a penalty as well on one

of those stagger sequences, and he has, a two-second penalty. I really

think this could be it for him. It's not going to be his day today.

Are we seeing the end of an era? He's way outside the time set by

the Frenchman. He's down in fifth. So no medal for Martikan of

Slovakia. The crowd goes silent. One of the last guys in this

competition, another Slovakian who has the hopes of the nation behind

him. He'll have seen what the last competitor did, so Slovakia's hopes

of getting on the rostrum in the C- 1 rest with this guy. A good start,

tight into gate three and out. We really want to see these athletes

get in tight in and out of the poles. A lot of time can be lost.

It's about making sure you spend as much time in the downstream. Look

at that - he's already a second down on the French competitor. So

again, another guy who is under a little bit of pressure here. Does

he go for gold or just settle for a medal? An extremely tough course.

They need to reserve energy for the bottom section and the large drop.

He's currently nice and tight around the upstream and staying on

the upside pole. That was good. He wants to get back into the moving

water to make sure he's keeping his boat moving as fast as possible.

certainly has tasted success in the past. He's won two team gold medals

in previous years - in 2009 and 2010, so he knows what success is

like. He's going to have to keep it together, but he's fallen even

further behind the Frenchman, so it looks as though France are going to

take gold in this particular event here, but can this guy now get on

the rostrum? He executed gate 20 very well, so I think he's making

the most of what he can of this bottom part of the course. So he

crosses the line in third place, 103.91. Gold for France, silver for

Germany, and Slovakia, the host No individual medals for Great

Britain at the World Championships but they have the good reputation

exciting. We have David Florence and Richard Hounslow, Tim Baillie

and Etienne Stott and then the youngsters. The team event is when

you have three boats having to work as tightly together as they can.

When we come into the upstream gates, it is tricky that they do

not overlap and they're in and add around each other as quickly as

they can. They have to finish within a certain time of each other.

You need to make sure the three boats cross the finishing line

within a few seconds of each other. This is precision C-2 clearing. We

have won medals in the past. David Florence and Richard Hounslow were

so close to a medal in the individual event when they finished

four. Look at the superb teamwork! Matt and reset Davies adding a

great job in the back. No penalties at all. That will be difficult to

beat. Spinning away into the fast moving water, that water is

streaming down the course at the moment. A very good performance so

far up by Great Britain. The third crew must push their way to the

finishing line. We had beaten that by a comfortable margin. Great

Britain is in the lead. In the end they were overtaken by the French

and the Slovaks but still went home with the bronze. In the women's

team, Slovakia won and Great Britain came second from last. In

the men's team K-1, the Britons finished 6th. There was no British

entry in the women's team C-1. Australia grab to gold. No medal

for Britain, who were down in 9th. Congratulations on your bronze in a

C-2 team event. It was a really good result for us. We're not

ranked the highest three boats. There are teams that are stronger

than asked the Stock we had a great run. It was a good way to finish

off the World Championships. -- than us. It is the only medal that

Great Britain won which is a bit unfortunate. How disappointed is

the team? There were some good results out there. Every individual

will be disappointed on have their performances went at different

levels within the team. Our head coach will be disappointed. There

will be a lot of performances he is really pleased with as well. If you

look at the medal table, Slovakia up on top. Home advantage is

obviously paying off. Great Britain will hope the London Olympics

provide a similar boost for them. They are down in 10th place. Great

Britain would have expected to have come away with more than one team

event medal a year before their home Olympics. I am sure they would.

The focus will be on London. After a short break, everyone will be

back on the water. There is a lot of work to do to get selected to

the team to represent the country at the Olympics and get ready for a

big event. We have already seen what it is like to race in a big

competition. There was a noisy crowd and a great atmosphere. High-

level competition. Just wrap it up a notch and to have the Olympics. -

- ramp. The British have qualified a boat in each of the four Olympic

classes. When we look at the Olympics and how it runs, there is

a one boat pan-Asian. The podium is wide open. -- per nation. Is it

easier to get on the podium at the Olympics? I would not say easier

but when you look at the field in the World Championships, they had a

really strong field. The Slovakians stacked the C-2s. Every man and

woman for themselves in that cauldron. It is a different game. I

would say it is more wide open. mention the lively home crowd. It

was deafening when there was a Slovak coming down the course.

the athletes at the 2012 Games, I remember Sydney in 2000, just when

they read the names out. They are there for the bid time. The

athletes that can use it will get a real boost but it may be the

downfall for others. We're looking forward to it, whatever the case.

Following as on BBC Two, the show jumping European team championships.

Our coverage of the world road cycling championships starts on

Tuesday at 1pm. If you are an early bird, we will have the Berlin

marathon at 7:45am next Sunday here on BBC Two. That is it. No medals