2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships – Women's C1 explained

Event:Women's C1
Competition:2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships
Venue:Čunovo Water Sports Centre
Location:Bratislava, Slovakia
Dates:23–26 September 2021
Competitors:44
Nations:22
Gold:Elena Apel
Silver:Mallory Franklin
Bronze:Gabriela Satková
Gold Nation:GER
Silver Nation:GBR
Bronze Nation:CZE
Next:2022

The Women's C1 at the 2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships took place on 23 and 26 September 2021 at the Čunovo Water Sports Centre in Bratislava.[1] It was the 9th official edition of the event, after it made its debut in 2010. 44 athletes from 22 nations competed.

The event was won by Elena Apel of Germany, securing her second medal of the Championships after she won silver in K1. Briton Mallory Franklin won silver for the fourth time, her fifth ever medal in this event. 2020 European Champion Gabriela Satková of the Czech Republic won bronze, her first individual medal at world championship level.

Background

Andrea Herzog of Germany entered the event as the reigning world champion, having taken the title in 2019 in La Seu d'Urgell.[2] This was the first World Championships since women's C1 made its Olympic debut at Tokyo, where Jess Fox won gold ahead of Mallory Franklin and Herzog.[3] Czech Tereza Fišerová came into the event having taken her first World Cup overall title after winning the final round in Pau.[4] All four were favourites for the title as the highest ranked athletes by the ICF.[5] [6]

Competition format

The women's C1 event in canoe slalom uses a three-round format with heats, a semifinal and final. Athletes complete up to two runs in the heats. In the first heat, the 20 fastest women qualify automatically for the semifinal, whilst the rest complete another run in the repêchage second heat for a further 10 qualification positions. The final rank of non-qualifying athletes is determined by their second run score. Athletes start in the reverse order of their heats position in the semifinal and complete a single run, with the top 10 advancing to the final. The athlete with the best time in the single-run final is awarded gold.[7]

Penalties of 2 or 50 seconds are incurred for infractions such as missing a gate, touching a gate, or not negotiating gates in numerical order. A team may request up to one review of a penalty per boat in the heats or semifinals phases, with no enquiries considered in the finals.[7]

Schedule

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 23 September 2021
15:00 Heats Run 1
17:00 Heats Run 2
Sunday, 26 September 2021
09:03 Semifinal
11:33 Final

Results

Kimberley Woods set the fastest time in the first heat with a penalty-free 92.11. This was particularly significant, given she had been in a wheelchair a week earlier, following a car accident.[8] Fellow countrywoman Mallory Franklin set the second fastest time, ahead of Australian Jessica Fox. World No. 5 Ana Sátila did not qualify directly to the semifinal after receiving a 50-second penalty but set the second fastest time of the day to win the second heat.

The Russian Canoe Federation's Alsu Minazova topped the semifinal with a time of 103.55 ahead of Angèle Hug of France. In an upset semifinal on a difficult course, Olympic Champion Fox, European Champion Miren Lazkano, World Cup overall winner Tereza Fišerová and reigning World Champion Andrea Herzog were all eliminated - the first two after incurring 50 second penalties. Fox' penalty meant that she would leave the World Championships without a medal in a canoe slalom event for the first time since 2011 and without making a final for the first time in her entire career.

Elena Apel of Germany backed up her silver medal in K1 by becoming the 2021 C1W World Champion in a time of 99.03, including a 2-second penalty. Olympic silver-medallist Franklin won silver, whilst 2020 European Champion Gabriela Satková took bronze. In a marked difference to the semifinal where just three athletes completed clean runs, only two athletes took penalties, including Apel.[9]

Penalties are included in the time shown. The fastest time in each round is shown in bold.

RankBibCanoeistNationHeatsSemifinal[10] Final[11]
Run 1[12] Run 2[13]
TimeOrderTimeOrderTimeOrderTimeOrder
11 96.442 5- 108.00 4 8 99.03 2 1
2 Mallory Franklin93.4702- 109.19 6 10 99.34 0 2
2698.310 10 - 105.25 0 4 102.50 0 3
4 16 103.59 2 24 102.51 2 8 107.09 2 7 103.57 0 4
5 20100.82 215- 107.08 6 6 103.88 0 5
6 1098.97013- 108.99 4 9 104.49 0 6
7 6 95.8904- 104.84 0 3 104.71 0 7
8 15100.74 214 - 103.55 2 1 105.67 0 8
9 30 97.330 8- 104.59 2 2 116.10 6 9
10 22Alja Kozorog100.92 0 16- 106.48 2 5 117.40 0 10
11 8 97.2707- 109.20 4 11 did not advance
12 21 103.50 0 23 98.93 0 3 109.73 2 12
13 3Tereza Fišerová96.40212 - 109.74 4 13
14 4 97.8229- 109.85 8 14
15 7 92.11 0 1- 111.70 4 15
16 29 106.6722999.49 2 4 113.41 6 16
17 12 104.130 25 102.03 0 6 115.50 0 17
18 39101.652 18- 115.89 4 18
19 23 102.92 4 22 105.93 4 10 116.31 4 19
20 14 98.31010- 116.46 2 20
21 5 150.24 503993.31 0 1 116.50 6 21
22 31 105.44 0 26 103.47 0 9 118.71 4 22
23 37 Hannah Thomas 114.25635102.25 2 7 126.39 4 23
24 19 153.84524095.40 0 2 129.786 24
259 Klara Olazabal97.1306- 141.95 6 25
26 1 Jessica Fox94.0603- 149.06 50 26
27 13 102.29 6 21 101.36 0 5 161.76 52 27
28 25102.14 020- 162.67 56 28
29 17101.04 2 17- 163.63 52 29
30 33Klaudia Zwolińska101.664 19- 170.75 54 30
31 38 111.80434106.72 0 11 did not advance
32 34 Chiara Sabattini 165.7852 41109.37 4 12
33 42 Katja Bengeri 123.71638109.94 4 13
34 35 110.09233110.03 414
35 36 106.29 228113.94 4 15
36 18 109.26 432113.94 4 16
37 28 Viktoriia Dobrotvorska 123.01 237114.54 4 17
38 27 Zulfiia Sabitova105.48 227115.72 6 18
39 32 108.08231123.07 0 19
40 41 Katarzyna Liber 122.386 36 124.542 20
41 40 Chung Yu-Han185.635842128.12 4 21
42 24 107.20 0 30 149.20 50 22
43 44 Georgia Morou340.42 210 43 314.25 158 23
44 43 Veronika Salaseviciute-Turbinova 353.97 168 44 551.76 358 24

Notes and References

  1. News: September 22, 2021 . France ends Slovakia canoe dominance . ICF Media . en . 23 September 2021.
  2. Web site: Women's C1 results (2019 La Seu). 24 September 2021.
  3. Web site: Results (Tokyo Final). 24 September 2021. Olympics. ja. 29 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210729110311/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/CSL/OG2020-_CSL_C73A_CSLWC1----------------FNL-000100--.pdf. dead.
  4. Web site: 2021 World Cup Final Ranking . CanoeSlalom.net . 24 September 2021.
  5. News: September 21, 2021 . Will slalom history be made in Bratislava? . ICF Media . en . 24 September 2021.
  6. Web site: ICF Canoe Slalom World Rankings . 24 September 2021.
  7. Web site: ICF Canoe Slalom Competition Rules 2019 . 2021-09-23.
  8. News: September 23, 2021 . It takes more than a car crash to bring Woods down . ICF Media . en . 24 September 2021.
  9. News: September 26, 2021 . Young guns upstage C1 rivals . ICF Media . en . 27 September 2021.
  10. Web site: Women's Canoe - Semifinal Results List . 26 September 2021.
  11. Web site: Women's Canoe - Final Results List . 26 September 2021.
  12. Web site: Women's Canoe - Heats Run 1 Results List . 24 September 2021.
  13. Web site: Women's Canoe - Heats Run 2 Results List . 24 September 2021.