Olympic bronze medalist Andrea Herzog won gold at the canoe slalom world championships in Augsburg.
The 2019 world champion in canoeing prevailed in a whitewater thriller with a lead of 0.92 seconds over the exceptional Australian athlete Jessica Fox, who won Olympic gold in canoeing in Tokyo. For Fox it was the 13th World Championship medal. Despite problems at gate two and a gate pole touch at the 14th obstacle, Herzog put in a furious final sprint and gained a lot of time in the lower area. Britain's Mallory Franklin was third.
"My start wasn't perfect, but it happened to Jessica there too. The last section was really good," said the 22-year-old from Leipzig, who raised her fist in the air at the finish and let out a cheering cry.
Eliminated in the semifinals was defending champion Elena Lilik from Augsburg. She blundered at goal 22, but before that she had to rework a goal enormously, which cost valuable time and thus her participation in the final. "I had my magic moment yesterday with bronze in the kayak, today my concentration had dropped a bit. As the defending champion, I would have liked to have performed in the final," said Lilik.
Tasiadis is also paddling to gold
Olympic bronze medalist Sideris Tasiadis won his first world title in single canoe in Augsburg. The 32-year-old prevailed on the local ice track with a flawless ride through the pole course and 1.18 seconds ahead of Slovakian Alexander Slafkovsky. "Indescribable, it couldn't be better. The pressure here was enormous, it almost tore me up," said Tasiadis.
Franz Anton from Leipzig, who went into the final as the last starter with the best time in the semi-finals, also secured the bronze medal without making any mistakes. "I really wanted to be on the podium, I'm happy. It's unbelievable for both of us," said Anton. Timo Trummer from Zeitz clearly missed the final of the top ten in 26th place with four penalties.
