Medal frenzy in the stormy water: Olympic canoe champion Ricarda Funk made a perfect start to the World Championships despite the difficult situation. The German slalom team wins four medals in Augsburg at the start. The World Cup is under the massive influence of the climate crisis.
Ricarda Funk paddled very energetically in front, hit the perfect wave in "her" ice channel - and set the first small exclamation mark with a wild ride: In front of her family, the Olympic champion gave the German slalom canoeists a dream start in the home World Championships. In the non-Olympic team competition, the 30-year-old took first place in a trio with Elena Lilik and Jasmin Schornberg and caused a stir in the first place on the route in Augsburg, which is also known as "Summer Streak" or "Mother of all artificial canoe slalom routes". Race for the first German gold.
"We are mega happy and now we have to calm down and process the whole thing," said Funk to the thunderous cheers of the numerous spectators. The guarantor of success from the Ahr Valley was the first paddler to show her team the line to triumph - and the omens before the World Cup were not good at all. First a corona infection threw the slalom canoeist back, then low water on the Olympic course from 1972 caused a training stop at the wrong time.
World Association President Thomas Konietzko already spoke of the first sporting event "which is on the brink because of the climate crisis". The all-clear came late after the concrete pillars and wooden beams had been installed - but just in time. This is how the team of the German Canoe Association (DKV) was able to continue their medal rush from the Olympic Games in Tokyo on the first day. Two gold and one silver in four competitions!
In addition to Funk and Co., the men's kayakers around Olympic bronze medalist Hannes Aigner, Stefan Hengst and Noah Hegge also secured the gold medal with 1.78 seconds ahead of Great Britain. Lilik was the only athlete to win two medals for the DKV. The all-rounder won silver in the Canadian team with Andrea Herzog and Nele Bayn in a heart-stopping final after a subsequent time correction behind the Czech Republic.
But the more important individual races are yet to come - and a few question marks remain over Funk's form after a corona infection and two missed World Cups. "I'm fine again," said the Augsburg native. She has been "fully in training" again for three weeks. And yet it is stacked deep after Olympic and World Cup gold last year. "Of course you want to build on previous successes. But the competition is tough," emphasizes the 30-year-old.
So you only think "step by step". Means: Heats on Thursday and semi-finals and finals on Saturday, and extreme slalom on Sunday. "And when you're in the final, of course you only have one goal in mind," she says. Her second World Cup gold in the team after 2017 should inspire. In any case, the Augsburg ice channel, which is difficult to drive, has long since become her "happy place".
"A home World Cup alone is something very special. And now it's even the place where I trained for years," says Funk. Being cheered on by family and friends in the fight for medals is a "unique experience". And that's exactly what should drive them to more medals this weekend.
